ART OF KIEVAN RUS OF THE LATE 10TH – MID-11TH CENTURIES

A.I. Komech

ARCHITECTURE OF THE LATE 10TH – MID-11TH CENTURIES Construction of stone developed in Rus’ as a direct consequence The image of God-created cosmos as interpreted by St. of the adoption of Christianity. Together with the new religion Basil anticipated the expressive domed temples of the 6th century the great tradition of world art came to Rus’ from Byzantium. so exactly that it can be seen as the crucial reason behind the The appearance of major Russian cities – Kiev, Chernigov architects’ quests for such compositions. and Novgorod – transformed dramatically from the late 10th The very attempt to use the story of the Creation in order to the mid-11th century. Although most of their buildings were to understand the Christian temple concept is not far-fetched made almost entirely of wood, the new stone cathedrals, which or alien to historical material. Likening the artist to the Creator became the crucial dominants, with their stature and scale made pervaded Christian literature of the early centuries and was one the architectural landscape of Rus’ look like the historical land- of the most common testimonies to the existence of God. St. scapes of European and Mediterranean civilisations. Basil the Great began his description of the Creation with, “Shall Grand princes and their retinue commissioned the early we not rather stand around the vast and varied workshop of di- stone structures. Cathedrals and churches were not many, but vine creation and, carried back in mind to the times of old, shall their scale, and frescoes, sanctuary screens with and we not view all the order of creation?” 7 . sumptuous décor called for highly skilled architects, artists and Historians of point to the special sculptors. It was easy to find sundry hands among artisans of the “suspended” nature of Byzantine domed structures, in which Russian cities, but the senior masters, architects of the early architectural forms develop downwards, from top to bottom, the structures and managers were Byzantine (Greek, according to the special rhythm of curvilinear outline, “whirling motion” and the chroniclers), the carriers of tradition. This is attested by architec- desire to dematerialise voluminous shapes. St. Basil the Great tural forms and directly reported in an A.D. 989 chronicle saying wonderfully foresaw that expressiveness in his picture of the about the construction of the Tithe Church, or Church of the Creation. Dormition of the Mother of God, the first stone church to be The course of the Creation giving the conceptual and built in Kiev 1 . dynamic centre to the entire composition is quite characteristic The Tithe Church opened the history of architecture in this context. St. Theophilus of Antioch wrote that “Man, being in Kievan Rus’, however neither it nor the cathedrals which below, begins to build a home from the ground and cannot raise followed were in any way beginners’ work. They were master- it the way it should be nor make the roof before laying the foun- pieces of world architecture to be truly appreciated only from dation. The might of God is manifest in that He creates things the perspective of the millennium-old tradition of Antiquity and from nothing and the way He likes. Because ‘what is impossible the Byzantine world. Only on such terms can their deep roots with men is possible with God’. Therefore, the prophet says that in world artistic experience and their original features be under- He first made heaven, poised like a dome. ‘In the Beginning, the stood. That is why before turning directly to Kiev’s landmarks, prophet says, God made the Heaven.’ So the heaven, like a dome, it is necessary to make an overview of the artistic expertise that enclosed all matter that then looked like a mass. As to the form Byzantium offered Rus’ in the late 10th century. of them we also content ourselves with the language of the same By that time had already had centuries-long prophet, when praising God ‘that stretcheth out the heavens experience of ancient and Paleochristian culture development. as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in’ (Is It possessed an inexhaustible arsenal of architectural forms and 40.22)” 8 . In full agreement with the above St. Basil says, “… techniques processed through intense and purposeful interpre- as to the form of heaven we content ourselves with the language tation. Although far from being the only field of Byzantine con- of the same prophet, when praising God: Set up the heavens like struction efforts, church architecture predominated quantitatively a chamber” 9 . The association with the dome highlights the rea- and, more importantly, dictated the discursive and aesthetic son for the focus on vault architecture. meaning of the architectural language in general. The process Of no less interest is the striving after the compositional of steady selection honed up the canonical form of the church movement from top to bottom, which upsets the customary no- building which met the functional needs of liturgical rituals, their tions of art of Antiquity. The sense of volume having real weight symbolical meaning and, what was of paramount importance disappears and the firmament turns out to be weightless. “Upon to Byzantine liturgy, was visually expressive and artistically beau- the essence of the heavens we are contented with what Isaiah tiful. says, for, in simple language, he gives us sufficient idea of their All territories of the were involved in the nature, ‘The heaven was made like smoke,’ (Is 51.6), that is to say, evolutionary process, even though many of them retained their He created a subtle substance, without solidity or density, from peculiarity and distinction in religious life and artistic practice. which to form the heavens” 10 . Even the earth as a solid body rests In the early period after Emperor Constantine had converted upon itself, and the entire organism of the universe is sustained to Christianity, cathedrals and parish churches were built in the by the Creator’s power. “Let us then reply to ourselves, and let widespread form of - rectangular in plan, with a flat us reply to those who ask us upon what support this enormous ceiling and one nave or with rows of columns dividing the space mass rests, ‘In His hands are the ends of the earth.’ (Ps 95.4) It is into a nave and two to eight aisles 2 . Concurrently, central-plan a doctrine as infallible for our own information as profitable for our style structures – square, octagonal, round, cruciform or com- hearers.” 11 plex – became common as baptisteries or martyria. They had Another passage on the preponderance of circular move- adjoining rectangular or semicircular cells situated radially and ment in cosmos and its meaning is rich in content. “Do not then often vaulted or domed 3 . imagine, O man! that the visible world is without a beginning; The Holy Sepulchre Rotunda built by Emperor Constantine and because the celestial bodies move in a circular course, and

1. Collected Russian Chronicles I, a monumental mausoleum above the place of the drama and it is difficult for our senses to define the point where the circle (CRC), 1998, col. 106; CRC, 1997, col. 121; Abramovich, 1991, pp. triumph of God incarnate, made centrally planned tent-roofed begins, do not believe that bodies impelled by a circular move- 5-9. (and later domed) buildings forever universally attractive 4 . Al- ment are, from their nature, without a beginning. Without doubt

2. Krautheimer, 1986, pp. 39-92; ready in the 4th century the cross-in-square church of the Holy the circle (I mean the plane figure described by a single line) is Mango, 1985. Apostles in brought together the idea of the beyond our perception, and it is impossible for us to find out

3. Grabar, 1943; Grabar, 1949, four basilicas and the dominant role of central space emerging where it begins or where it ends; but we ought not on this account pp. 95-104; Khatchatrian, 1982; Krautheimer, 1986, pp. 39-92. as a visually colossal embodiment of the Cross, the main Chris- to believe it to be without a beginning. Although we are not sen- 5 4. Krautheimer, 1986, pp. 73-5. tian symbol . sible of it, it really begins at some point where the draughtsman

5. Downey, 1951, pp. 53-80; In the 5th century the desire to wed the dome to the ba- has begun to draw it at a certain radius from the centre. Thus Mango, 1990, pp. 51-61; Krau- silica, the main type of a Christian temple, insistently carved its seeing that figures which move in a circle always return upon theimer, 1969, pp. 27-34; Vyssotsky, A., Osminskaya, way in the eastern part of the former , which themselves, without for a single instant interrupting the regularity

6. For more about the had Constantinople as its capital city. The Basilica B of of their course, do not vainly imagine to yourselves that the world B in Philippi see: Lemerle, 1945, p. in Greece, the church of Mayafarkin in Asia Minor and monas- has neither beginning nor end. ‘For the fashion of this world 415 et al.; Krautheimer, 1986, pp. 253–4; the church tery churches in Egypt were ambitious attempts at such synthesis passeth away’ (1 Cor 7.31) and ‘Heaven and earth shall pass 6 12

7. St. Basil the Great, 1845, . The spread of domed compositions was rooted in the age-old away’ (Mt 24.35)” . p. 62. idea of the dome as a symbol of cosmos and the after-world, sup- Noteworthy here is the strong focus on the rhythm of circu-

plemented with the perception of the dome as the image of the lar movement that makes St. Basil see the circle as such a weighty 8. St. Theophilus of Antioch, 1999, p. 149. world created by God for man to live in and to attain unity with argument in favour of life being not created that he takes the

9. St. Basil the Great, 1845, his Creator. One of the most popular works in Christian writings, trouble to dispute it. While, in his eyes, the expressiveness of the p. 14. the Hexameron of St. Basil the Great, who left a consistent descrip- circle contradicts the transitory nature of all earthly things, struc-

10. Ibid. tion of the creation of the world and commented on the course tures connected with the invariable and eternal being of God

11. Ibid., p. 16. and meaning of the Creation, gave a rare insight into these inter- should obviously possess such expressiveness. In domed temples,

12. Ibid., p. 5. twining religious and artistic concepts. given the developed curvilinear rhythmic movement, the circular 2 shape appears only up high, raised above the whole of space and contemporaries wrote about the dome as if suspended from all the supports. a “golden chain” . The perfectly complete ring of the dome The complex and deliberate organisation of curvilinear encompasses the entire space. The movement bringing together movement in Byzantine cathedral interiors, coupled with the cosmos spreads from it sideways and downwards. The curvilinear, visual dematerialisation of shapes, leads to the transition from as though rotating rhythm of large, medium and small arches visual to inner contemplation. This art is of the spirit rather than of the semi-domes and vaults fills the building. The massive the soul. In his Treatise on the Inscriptions of the Psalms Gregory architectural forms are deliberately reduced. Big shapes are of Nyssa aptly conveyed that characteristic: “The variegated hidden in the marble lining of the walls, pierced by arcades and mixture of things in the world whole, obeying some graceful and colonnades; columns incorporated in the walls make the shell unbreakable harmony and in concord with itself through the thin and delicate. The downward hanging movement is central collateral subordination of the parts, creates a universal melody. to the architectural organism, while the intentional dematerialisa- This melody is intelligible to the mind which, distracted by noth- tion of architectural surfaces creates an illusion of weightlessness ing, has risen above sensual perception and is listening to the song in strict conformity with the aforementioned criterion of divine of the heavens” 13 . creation material – “like smoke”. Let us, however, go back to the picture of the world of St. The has retained the two-storey composi- Basil the Great. When passing judgement on the quality of Cre- tion of the aisles and narthexes of many basilicas and central- ation both he and the Creator himself, as it were, use a criterion ly-planned church buildings of the preceding period. In the of a clearly aesthetic nature. Beauty found here is not merely main cathedral of the empire the upper-floor gallery was a place something pleasant to the eye: it has the highest meaning of prestige intended for the empress and her retinue; church of demonstrating the quality of organisation immanently associ- meetings were also held there. The official assignation of the ated with God Himself. “And God saw that it was good. Scripture gallery corresponded to the social structure of the imperial court does not merely wish to say that a pleasing aspect of the sea pre- and set the example for the similar organisation of many other sented itself to God. It is not with eyes that the Creator views the temples. It was the preservation of the extensive gallery that pre- beauty of His works. He contemplates them in His ineffable wis- determined the appearance of the two-storey extended arcades dom.”14 “What He esteemed beautiful is that which presents in its of the north and south arches under the dome. perfection all the fitness of art, and that which tends to the use- The impression produced by the Hagia Sophia on the fulness of its end. He, then, who proposed to Himself a manifest Byzantine world was so great that the dome canopy – a dome design in His works, approved each one of them, as fulfilling its with four arches supported by the walls or piers – for ages be- end in accordance with His creative purpose. A hand, an eye, or came short of the dominant form of the church building. It was any portion of a statue lying apart from the rest, would look beau- reproduced in large cathedrals throughout Byzantium and the tiful to no one. But if each be restored to its own place, the beauty surrounding Christian lands – in Constantinople (), of proportion, until now almost unperceived, would strike even in the Caucasus (Jvari monastery, Hripsime church), in Syria the most uncultivated. But the artist, before uniting the parts of his (Qasr Ibn Wardan) and (Hagia Sophia) 18. The work, distinguishes and recognises the beauty of each of them, dome canopy was soon transformed to be wedded to the shape thinking of the object that he has in view. It is thus that Scrip- of the cross. As early as the 6th century the idea of a domed ture depicts to us the Supreme Artist, prasing each one of His cross-in-square church was embodied clearly and distinctly in the works…” 15 “Anything useless has no place in God’s works.” 16 Hagia Irene, the Church of St. Titus at Gortyna and Panagia Summing up the above, we can imagine the ideal temple Ekatontapyliani on the island of Paros. In them the cylindrical which can be likened to the universe. To begin with, it is a vaulted vaults adjoining the dome canopy arches visually combined structure and, based on stable Christian associations inherited the ideas of cosmos and the cross as the chief Christian symbol from Antiquity and Eastern culture, the dome with its faultless in wrapping up space 19 . It was a rare instance of an architec- circular outline forms its centre. Everything evolves from it, from tural form conveying profound symbols and images of a religious top to bottom, and the rhythm of this movement is determined world outlook so naturally and visually. by the complex interface of its curvilinear outlines. The mass In the 6th and 7th centuries the idea of a domed cross-in- of the building should not cause a feeling of heaviness, but seem square church was embodied in numerous versions of varying to be suspended without exercising any pressure on the supports. scale and composition. During that period the domed cross-in- “In His hands are the ends of the earth.” The temple should be square church flourished especially in Transcaucasian architec- filled with light. “The beginning of the creation is light, because ture . The cathedrals of Echmiadzin, Tsromi, Mren and Talin light makes visible that which is being created.” 17 The strict pur- carried on the idea of producing an original structure in which posefulness of the building can reveal the Creator’s design better the walls separating the arms of the cross and the corner com- than the surrounding world, the diversity of which hides from partments disappeared, transformed into piers under the dome. view the whole of God’s design. This architectural composition became canonical throughout The world as the temple created by God is an idea pro- the subsequent development of Byzantine architecture. Central- foundly traditional for Christianity of the 2nd through the 4th ly-planned, it was uniform and well-balanced, its cruciform main century. The temple as the world was an innovative concept space full of symbolical meaning. The three-part altar space oc- in the focus of attention of the architects of the 5th and 6th cupying its east side fully merged with the main structure. centuries that led them to creating stunning structures in the age Given the incredible number of colonnades and columns of . inherited by the Eastern Mediterranean territories from Antiqui- ty, the application of columns in Christian basilicas and all other structures became short of a rule . Soon they found their way *** to domed cross-in-square churches not only as additional compo- nents (in arcades, colonnades and porticos), but also as supports for the four main arches. Discoveries of the past few decades The remarkable image of created Christian cosmos so visibly attest to the existence of such four-columned structures . All ver- depicted by St. Basil the Great was embodied in architecture, sions formed part of building practices in the Balkans, Asia Mi- with extraordinary fullness and artistic strength 150 years after nor and the Middle East simultaneously and in parallel. However,

he wrote his homilies. The Hagia Sophia of Constantinople fully with the passage of time traditions were re-interpreted under the 13. St. Gregory of Nyssa, 1968, p. 85. and clearly summed up the ideas and images of the epoch, all the impact of drastic changes in the life of those territories.

14. St. Basil the Great, 1845, architectural quests of the 5th and the early 6th century, which The empire was shattered by a severe crisis in the 7th p. 40. remained unsurpassed in the Christian world. century. Economic decline and Arab invasions undermined the

15. Ibid., p. 34. The idea of a dome canopy became pivotal to the compo- state, whose territory shrank manifold. Although the colonisation

16. Athenagoras of Athens. On the sition of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (532-7) . Byzantine of Slavic lands gave a new impetus to the decrepit economic and Resurrection of the Dead, 1867, p. 141. art inherited from Antiquity exceptional visual convincingness bureaucratic organism of the empire, it also caused cultural decay

17. St. Basil the Great, 1845, p. in the embodiment of the basic artistic ideas and images. There because the new ground for development proved far too peculiar. 41-2. is no need to decipher them: above all they should be seen. They In the period from the 4th to the 7th century the construction

18. See: Chubinashvili, 1948; are no conundrums, but artworks of stunningly consummate of big cities spearheaded architecture, but from the 7th century Tokarskii, 1961; Kleinbauer, 1973, pp. 89–114; Kleinbauer, 1972, pp. immediate impact. The essence of the Hagia Sophia is not an on it was the cities that fell into the greatest decline. Architec- 245–62; Teocharidou, abstract idea or cosmic symbol, but the unusual clarity and scale ture lost its momentum and bearings. The scale of construction

19. See more about the Church of the embodied image of cosmos crowned with a dome . dwindled and small buildings with simplified compositions pre- of St. Titus in: Gerola, 1908, p. 29; Kreta, 1990, p. 858–9; Tsougarakis, The dome of the Hagia Sophia seems weightless and ponderated not only in quantity. Architectural thinking continued 1996, pp. 17–8; soaring above the entire space. Perfectly aware of the fact, to develop far more spontaneously. The architectural traditions 3 of large cities became an archaic rather than progressive factor 20. “the church as heaven on earth” gained special importance in the The provincial type of a domed cross-in-square church became 7th–9th centuries. This explains the urge to arrive at accom- common, as exemplified by the church of Buyuk ada outside plished compositions and a synthesis of artistic ideas. Amasra (early 8th c.) , the Eregli cathedral (Sea of Marmara Church architecture was seen as “the image of the hidden coast, 9th c.), and the cross-in-square and domed cross-in-square beauty” while “the ranks of order on earth” were to reflect “the churches of Chersonesus of the 9th - 10th centuries . Divine Concord and the disposition of the Heavenly Orders”24 . The artistic character of temples changed. The mass of the Supreme (celestial) beauty was seen as “being unific, good and buildings became more tangible, with the former visually thin the source of all perfection” and was “wholly free from variety”25 shell giving way to a column or wall structure in a complex spatial because it was associated with the essence “of the single type, composition. Open vistas were replaced by a shut-off ambience qualityless, peaceful without contrarinesses”26 which “allows for and the feeling of the isolated congregation, and, in the absence no enlargement or change. Everything that is beautiful and good of luminous solemnity and evenly spread lighting, light contrasts is always mentally represented in the truth of the beautiful”27 . produced a special impression in the generally dark interiors. The “Truth is something simple, only and singular, the same and indi- buildings became pointedly sacral in their expressiveness. visible, immutable, passionless, immune to oblivion, and free from In itself the active construction of domed cross-in-square any defect”28 . churches shows that clients and architects consistently preferred These definitions of the theologians are nearly negative them to other architectural types. In these temples there formed and seem to offer little trace capable of leading to an aesthetic a three-part and, as the most common variant, three-apse struc- judgement. And yet we can get an idea of such judgement from ture of the altar space to match the growing role of proskomide definitions of the beauty of the highest rank of contemplation, (offertory) in liturgy, which required that the prosthesis and including simplicity, integrity, immobility, withdrawal from all vestry be placed next to the main altar. However, the altars of all sorts of qualities of every living thing, and freedom from diver- the other types of churches also underwent that change. It is sity and complexity. These words can hardly apply to Byzantine hard to surmise that some functional considerations might have churches of the 6th century: landmarks of the Justinian era bear underpinned the prestige of domed cross-in-square churches. an imprint of a complicated mix of traditions and intense archi- Compared to basilicas, they are even less comfortable due to their tectural thinking. Their big size presupposes large congregations; reduced overall size and the lack of room for processions or pro- their division into the choir, nave and aisles is largely indicative cessional entrance. of the real, earthly organisation of the believers. In Byzantine history the 8th and 9th centuries saw not only With its clear-cut central plan the domed cross-in-square unfavourable economical and political circumstances, but also church proved to correspond to the ideas, such as “integral”, fierce theological debates and iconoclasm, which considerably af- “simple”, “peaceful without contrarinesses”, “free from any de- fected art. Icons as holy images became a direct object of debate, fect”, “devoid of multiplicity and movement” and “steadfast and and the time was often perilous for their existence. Nevertheless, immovable firmness”. The dome was associated with the heaven- the conflicts triggered intense re-thinking of not only spiritual ly world while the cross vaults connected cosmos with the drama concepts, but also of the meaning of religious rituals and the and triumph of Christianity. The movement of the curvilinear interpretation of cathedral space. The opposition of the invisible surfaces around the centre transformed the temple into a unify- (true) and the visible (transient) world was elaborated, enriched ing, blessing and hallowing cover. The concept of an enclosing and overcome through a search of the connection between the domed canopy – the fundamental idea of entire Byzantine archi- two, the reflection and revelation of the divine nature in earthly tecture – found its fullest and most consistent expression in the events and things. Byzantine art exploited the ability of a work structure of domed cross-in-square churches. of art to convey the beauty of the ideal world (prototype) in visual Such churches served as a model for the construction boom form with rare insight and stunning plastic conviction. in the period of the Byzantine revival in the 9th and 10th centu- Let us try and single out from the general system of Eastern ries. The empire fortified its borders, won back some of its former Christian world outlook of the 6th-7th centuries the ideas which territories and stabilised its economy. Constantinople re-emerged proved decisive in making the domed cross-in-square church as the centre of the development of arts to an even greater extent nearly the obligatory canonical type of the church building than before because the peripheral areas could no longer attain in 9th- and 10th-century Byzantium. their former prosperity and activity. During the 9th through Christian cosmos consists of two worlds, one heavenly and the 12th century over 100 churches were built in Constantino- the other earthly. All elements of the two worlds are assigned ple 29 . It was not so much a matter of quantity as that of the a certain order depending on the extent to which divine energies restoration of the sophisticated and luxurious style of court art are manifested in them, that is, form hierarchies. The earthly of the pre-iconoclasm period, as a result of which the period was hierarchy is subordinate to the heavenly one. The highest ranks called the (after the name of the ruling of the former lead up to the lower ranks of the latter. The world dynasty). is essentially spiritual, but the essence of phenomena is hidden Unfortunately, time did not spare the landmarks of the under their material outer aspect from the lower hierarchy, Byzantine capital and its environs. None of them has retained its to which humans belong . Transition to a higher hierarchy is image undisfigured, let alone undistorted. But a few structures only possible because the material world is built in accordance have survived, with some of their main space, annexes, environ- with the same laws as the spiritual world and is connected with ment and, with rare exceptions, décor gone forever. Not a single

20. Similar processes in literature it by the common incarnation of divine energies. This connection fragment of painting has survived on the walls of the Constan- were wonderfully decribed by S.S. is effective to such an extent that by observing the world one can tinople monuments. However, contemporaries have left behind Averintsev: “The social and political discover its hidden meaning . rapturous descriptions of new structures galore, giving us an idea 21. Writings of the Early Church Fathers, 1855, pp. 336-9, 363, The big role assigned to visual contemplation in learn- of their former splendour. 406-7. ing about the world was, of course, the result of the millen- In the time of Emperor Basil I (867-886) more than 30

22. St. Maximus the Confessor, nium-long flourishing of culture in Antiquity, which made churches were renovated in Constantinople and around it, and 1855, pp. 300-18. first-grade works of art part and parcel of the everyday life eight new ones were built next to the imperial palaces. The Nea, 23. Germanus of Constantinople. “On the Divine Liturgy” of virtually all social strata. Sophisticated ancient and early a new basilica consecrated in 880 at the Grand Imperial Palace, ldysinger.stjohnsem.edu/@ Byzantine artistic perception was the source of the aesthetic stood out from among them all. It was crowned by five domes texts/0720_germanus/02_ aspect of religious experience. Byzantine art never treated prob- covered with gilt copper. It must have been a cross-in-square

24. Dionysius the Areopagite, p. 5 lems of artistic perfection as purely formal. Poor works of art structure with domes above the corner compartments and in this

would have been dead idols unfit to serve as icons, images of the case must have served as an authoritative source of the five- 25. Ibid., p. 15 30 divine. For Christians church rituals encapsulated sacral values domed church which was then copied repeatedly . 26. St. Maximus the Confessor. On Love, ??? accessible to man in this world, and liturgy brought the believers Porticos adjoined the church on the north and south; the arches

27. Gregory of Nyssa, p. 268 into closest contact with God. The mystic liturgical rites and of the north portico were adorned with representations of saints. their order were seen as the “celebration of the heavenly”21 . The upper gallery of the two-storey south portico was connected

28. St. Maximus the Confessor. Liturgy was done in the temple, the symbolical meaning with the palace and the lower overlooked the sea. Between the ???, 1855, p. 310 of which was interpreted in multifarious ways in writings by the porticos to the east of the church lay an inner garden known 29. Ousterhout, 2000, p.241 theological authorities of the 6th and 7th centuries. According as mesokēpion (“middle garden”), closed-off on the east by premises 30. Ćurčić, 1980. R. Krautheimer 22 31 and C. Mango classify it rather as to St. Maximus the Confessor : The church is a divine house for ball games . a four-columned temple and trace where the mystical life-giving sacrifice is made…”23 . In front of the west entrance of the Nea there was an atri- to it the Diverse interpretations have forever been characteristic um, surrounded by porticos and decorated with two fountains 31. Maguire. 2000, p. 258; C. Mango. The Art of the Byzantine of Christianity, yet the idea of the church as a microcosm uniting of marble and porphyry. The floor was made of marble slabs, Empire. 1972, p. 163. two spheres – the heavenly and the earthly – or, in other words, which were inlayed with mosaics and framed by representations 4 of animals and geometrical ornaments of silver and niello. The of arches and vaults becomes of decisive importance. The central walls were faced with multicoloured marble. The sanctuary dome with its circular cornice is a source of rhythmic movement screen columns and vases were made of silver, the silver archi- flowing on evenly and regularly downwards and sideways. The trave decorated with gold, precious stones and enamel icons. The Greek were well aware of the concerted movement of curvilinear Holy Table was lined with silver with borders and representations outlines and went into raptures over it 38 . Patriarch Photius men- of gold, gems and pearls 32 . The hagiography of Basil I, compiled tioned it in the 9th century when describing the Church of the in the 10th century, likened this church to a bride “adorned with Virgin of the Pharos in the Grand Palace of Constantinople: “… pearls and gold, with gleaming silver” 33 . it seems that everything is in ecstatic motion, and the church itself The choice of the domed cross-in-square structure with col- is circling round. For the spectator, through his whirling about umns for the main supports as the most common compositional in all directions and being constantly astir, which he is forced church system matched its precious and elegant style. As has been to experience by the variegated spectacle on all sides, imagines noted above, four-columned churches appeared as early as the that his personal own is transferred to the object” 39 . 7th and 8th centuries, but it was only in the 10th-century Con- A modern person can find such a close link between vision stantinople that the artistic taste of the period chose them as its and personal experience somewhat far-fetched. Yet, it indeed most adequate expression. The first surviving example in the Byz- corresponds to specific visual perception that existed in Antiquity antine capital is the northern church of the Lips Monastery (908) and Byzantium. Active perception of the world was a legacy dedicated to the Mother of God 34 . The substitution of columns of the ancient concept according to which the eye is not a re- for piers or walls supporting the vaults was a change of principle. ceptor but a source emitting rays that, as it were, probe objects Columns thus transformed from a decorative into the main struc- and connect the viewer not only with their outward appearance, tural element. The space of corner units merged with that of the but also with their essence 40 . The energy-intensive process is an arms of the cross, making the interior look like a hall. earnest of the active participation of man’s inner forces in world It was no longer possible to have the choir inside the temple perception and interpretation. Visual contact with even remote because its level would have crossed the columns 35 of Constan- objects or representations, as it were, transports them into ev- tinople) the arcades bore the choir and formed part of the inner erybody’s private world, transforming into a communion and structure around the central space under the dome. Now the intimate unity. This connection between inward and outward choir remained only above the narthex and the corner compart- contemplation becomes possible and inherently rich, particularly ments, squeezed out to the level of the vaults and losing its former in art. role in the temple. The triple arcades were moved away from the According to Photius, vision has an incomparable ability centre to the line of the outer walls and made higher to equal the to connect man with the essence of things. “… the comprehen- central arcades 36 . The use of columns fully opened the corner sion that comes about through sight is shown in very fact to be (including east) units, resulting in the need to have ancillary altar far superior to the learning that penetrates through the ears…, premises, and this is why the metropolitan temples are nearly having somehow through the outpouring and effluence of the always a cell longer and categorized as of the complex type. optical rays touched and encompassed the object, it too sends the The main levels were marked by carved marble cornices essence of the thing seen on to the mind, letting it to be conveyed spanning the entire structure and all the annexes. The first cor- from there to the memory for the concentration of unfailing nice ran at the level of the base of the arches and vaults above knowledge” 41 . the narthex, the capitals of the central columns and triple arcade In his time O. Wulff made a perspicacious observation about stubs in the arms of the cross, and the central apse window. the peculiar perception of space in Byzantine churches 42 . All The second marked the level of the central vaults and the third but the main point is that, after entering the church and making adorned the base of the dome. Of the three chords correspond- a few steps, the person stops because nothing induces him to take ing to the above division, the main columns determined the any real action. His sight alone becomes involved into the endless height of the first cornice and the vault of the narthex that of the movement of curvilinear shapes and surfaces going along the second, as a result of which the smaller arches and those of the vertical line (beyond the reach of actual movement). Transition decorative arcades were elongated. The main divisions of the to contemplation is precisely the essential aspect of Byzantine interior were projected onto the façades, thus determining their religious experience. Supreme truth attained through such con- composition. templation should be simple, one and only, indivisible, immutable The multitude of large windows on all sides and in all tiers and unimpassioned, immune to oblivion and free from any flaw. evenly flooded the temple with abundant light. The structure In accordance with this ideal, architectural thinking of medie- of those windows – with the inclusion of marble stubs and val Byzantium sought to create an accomplished centrally-planned slabs – was highly traditional for Constantinople. Such windows space, a complex structure functionally coordinated so that its every have survived in the Hagia Sophia and were apparently known part seemed to exercise no pressure, nor experience any. “Byzan-

32. Kondakov, 1886, p. 60-2; in palatine architecture. tine aesthetics sought to avoid the accidental, to spurn the instan- C. Mango. The Art of the Byzantine The combined space of the interior, the clear-cut system taneous in order to retain only the typical and lasting. To let these Empire. 1972, pp. 194-5. of vertical structure and the absolute centricity of the naos special qualities, so precious from the point of view of the believers 33. C. Mango. The Art of the Byzan- tine Empire. 1972, p. 194. brought the entire composition together, making it a single and because they come close to the immutability of God, be felt, this

34. Millingen, 1912, pp. 122–37; integral whole. That wholeness did not come as a result of over- art cultivated a free rhythm with regular repeats, a broad free line, Ebersolt, Thiers, 1913, pp. 211–23. simplification. The small space of the naos was spanned by nine calm symmetry, equilibrium that precluded conflicting aspira- Pl. XLIX–LII; Brunov, 1926/2, pp. 43 217–36; vaults and eight arches placed at three levels. Different in scale, tions” . Such an attitude to artistic form was a millennium-long they were interrelated constructively and aesthetically. Owing tradition for the Byzantines. That was, of course, the renewal 35. Already A. van Millingen noted that (see: Millingen, 1912, to that system space remained complex and multifarious despite of ideas, if only manifested in a different art44 . p. 14). its hall-like nature. N. Mavrodinov gave a brilliant description The weighted regularity of constructing form deprived

36. R. Krautheimer and C. Mango described the four-col- of the expressive interiors of such structures: “In Byzantine it of any patently expressive function. The mind controlled umned type of temple as that of the architecture spatial forms are determined by vaults, domes, emotional expression just as in classical Greek art. “Byzantine inscribed cross (Krau walls, openings and so on. These architectural elements organise art never grimaces, and it is little capable of instilling fear, just

37. Mavrodinov, 1936, p. 257. space and with their surfaces give the final touch to its shapes, as of making one laugh. It is essentially serious and free from

38. For example, St. John Dam- determining its width and depth; they soften its outlines, making any noisy manifestation, passion or stormy emotion. It stays true ascene defined mathematics as follows: “Mathematics is knowledge it flexible, and dissect it into smaller shapes, each with its own to this state with that same firmness which is the cause of its of what is in itself beauty, character and atmosphere” 37 . grandeur” 45 .

39. The Homilies of Photius Patri- It may seem that columns as the main and only supports The distinctive impassiveness of Byzantine art is its highest ac- arch of Constantinople. English translation, introduction and com- in the centre of the naos should visually emphasise the structured complishment in conveying the ideal (of supersensual being of the mentary by Cyril nature and commensurability of the entire organism. However, heavenly world). This art is highly intellectual. The flight and

40. caused it to flow through the the striving after a flexible dematerialised form has the upper soaring of thought, oblivious of earthly cares, is the state of spir- eyes… Accordingly, whenever there is daylight round about, the visual hand here. The columns mask and diminish the scale because itual contemplation so much valued by the Byzantines. Another current issues forth, they are removed from the vaults by light arches. The rhythmic important thing is that awareness of the ideal was seen as the

41. The Homilies of Photius Patri- movement of the vaults and arches connects the vaulted “heav- coming out of inner spiritual forces, as a contact with that which arch of Constantinople. English translation, introduction and com- ens” spread above the temple with the capitals of the central existed objectively, rather than as a poetical product of the soul mentary by Cyril polished columns. Their mirror-like surface makes the supports wrapped in itself. What the believers were looking for “was not

42. Wulff, 1929-1930, pp. 531-9. structureless, while the illusory play of reflections conceals the some special state, but objective communion, the manifestations

43. Grabar, 1963/1, p. 55. constructive logic. of which – heart fever, mirth and the feeling of fullness – were

44. (Michelis, 1959, p. 274) The central space is organised as a single whole in a special real, but significantly different from usual emotional states at- ( 45. Michelis, 1959, p. 274) way. The relationship between spatial zones and the outlines tending them because they evidenced the actual presence of the 5 Divine Principle”46 . marble treillage and stubs and the semicircular triple window Church architecture was to provide a wonderfully unam- above completely replaced the walls. biguous frame to Communion and to reflect Divine Beauty (see Such pieces of architecture, ideally balanced and richly note 34). As Photius wrote about the Church of the Virgin of the decorated 51 , created a liturgical environment brimming with ra- Pharos, “…when… one looked into the church itself, with what diance and the beauty of the celestial world. However, in the eyes joy and trepidation and astonishment is one filled! It is as if one of the believers that cosmos would have been flawed and unwor- had entered heaven itself with no one barring the way from any thy of its purpose had it not had sacred representations 52 . The side, and was illuminated by the beauty in all forms shining all anthropomorphism of Byzantine painting which accorded pride around like so many stars, so is one utterly amazed” 47 . of place to man and God-man, was of course a precious legacy The church of the Mother of God of the Lips Monastery of Antiquity culture. But it was precisely in the period of struggle was barbarously disfigured in the 16th-17th centuries, when four against the iconoclasts that profound Christian interpretation marble columns were broken and replaced with coarse arches was associated with icons as evidence of the true incarnation and the wall and vault decoration was scraped off. However, the of Christ and a crucial go-between for believers and God. surviving main structure make it possible to see clearly what Architecture provided ideal conditions for arranging images contemporaries ecstatically wrote about. in vertical zones in keeping with their sacral meaning. The dome The columns have been broken in all the extant churches and the dome drum, pendentives, central and corner vaults, apse of Constantinople of the 10th-12th centuries. Only one remark- conches and arches all had their own parts to play in the symbol- able four-columned church connected with Constantinople has ical interpretation of the building with the help of painting. Sote- survived – the Church of the Mother of God (Panagia) at the riological representations found expression in the figures of saints Monastery in Focide, dating approximately from and martyrs and culminated in the cosmic image of Pantocrator. the mid-10th century – and it gives a full idea of this perfect and The very system of painting graphically demonstrates that expressive spatial composition . the temple was interpreted as a microcosm: “…temple architec- Monumental Byzantine art is usually thought to have as- ture determines the topographical structure of the church, while signed a secondary role to sculpture. This is apparently true as far mural painting reflects the composition and hierarchy of society as round sculpture is concerned, but the corpus of surviving that is the church starting with God and ending with the multi- fragments of carvings, remarkable in both diversity and perfec- tude of His loyal subjects 53 . The spatial arrangement of images tion, associated with the Church of the Mother of God of the in church interiors served to create a ritual space that fused insep- Lips Monastery warrants recognition that carved and relief arably the past, the present and the future 54 . decoration played a significant part in the interiors and façades Only bearing in mind the above brief survey of the evo- of the churches of the capital cities. The church has some re-used lution of ideas and architectural forms can we understand details, such as naos lesene capitals dating from the 5th century. the creative background and world outlook of the Byzantine However, the rest forms an original system evolved specially for architects invited by Grand Prince Vladimir to build the first the given monument 48 . stone ensemble of palaces and the church of the Mother of God The cornices were assigned the leading role . The first, with in Rus’. A few preliminary remarks on the specificity of the Kiev the largest projection and the most nearly horizontal lower surface, genre, clients and commission with respect to Constantinople will was at the base of the central dome. Six representations of eagles be pertinent here. In addition to palaces, the fairly extensive con- divide it into segments with large rosettes in the middle (appar- struction practice in Constantinople of the 10th-11th centuries ently, six windows were cut in the dome). The remaining surface was connected with the building of small churches. It is difficult was adorned with compositions of big fantastic flowers separated to assess them with a high degree of certainty due to their poor by palmettes, with a row of dentils and palmettes below. survival. Yet, regular churches had domes with a diameter ranging The next cornice marked the base of the central vaults and from 3 m to 5 m, while the church of St. George of the Mangana, apse conches and spanned the middle cruciform space; it was which seemed to Michael Psellus who witnessed its construction less projected and had the ornamented surface that was closer in the 11th century so huge 55 , was 21.5 x 21.5 metres 56 . to the vertical. A zigzag line formed the keynote of the ornament, Imperial construction projects, of course, featured prominent- dividing the cornice band into triangles filled to capacity with ly, however, many churches and monasteries were built on private wondrous palmettes, stars and flowers. Each of the indents along commissions and accounted for the period’s general idea of scale. the wall was also decorated with a palmette. At the centre of the The inherited the imposing structures which apse and the arms of the cross the cornice ornament was broken stunned the imagination of all guests of Constantinople from

46. Meyendorff, 1959, p. 71. by a cross in a wreath with figures of peacocks placed symmetri- the pre-iconoclastic period. They were restored, adorned with

47. The Homilies of Photius Patri- arch of Constantinople. English cally on the sides. mosaics (the Church of the Holy Apostles) and rebuilt after strong translation, introduction and com- The third cornice ran along the walls at the level of the earthquakes (Hagia Sophia), however, the secular and church life mentary by Cyril capitals of the central columns and stubs of the triple arcades. environment of the vast imperial palace created between the 4th

48. Macridy, 1964, pp. 253-78; Alternating crosses and palmettes formed a flowing ornament and 7th centuries had no need for new structures, and there was Mango, Hawkins, 1964, pp. 299- 57 315. that has retained some colouring – the pattern was red and the not always enough money to maintain the old ones .

49. Ceramic decoration appeared ground blue. The cornice was slightly projected and its surface in Constantinople and spread to was closest to the vertical. The different incline of the ornament- centres connected with it (especially in Bulgaria) in the ed surfaces was, beyond doubt, intended to make them more ***

50. Janin, 1953, p. 454; St. Pro- visible. The butt ends of the marble stubs, their bases and capitals copius of Caesarea, 1939, p. 211; were richly carved. Even the marble slabs lining the walls were Mango, Parker, 1960, pp. 239–40. similarly decorated, as evidenced by the surviving fragment in the The situation with the Kievan construction project was altogether parabema. different. To begin with, the Grand Prince commissioned to build 51. For the conclusive description of Byzantine church decoration of Excavations of the church floor have yielded fragments a cathedral to give the believers a place of worship and also the 9th-10th cc. see: Mango, M., 2001, p. 9. of marble intarsia panels, including a fully intact representation to serve as a model and symbol of the profound and true faith for of St. Eudocia (coloured marble and cast glass). An even more the neophytes. These included thousands of commoners and his 52. That is why for Photius even a church like the Hagia Sophia of surprising discovery was the sophisticated ceramic decoration hundreds-strong retinue made up of his druzhina and old noble- Constantinople was inadequate of rectangular tiles with yellow, dark green, turquoise and black men. A bronze quadriga brought from Chersonesus was put up after the icono 58 slips, with the geometrical ornament and rosettes done in black. behind the church (according to the chronicle) , and the square 53. Grabar, 1957, p. 234. The church may well have had ceramic icons either inserted thus formed was enclosed with stone palaces. The entire ensem- 54. See: Ousterhout, 1995, p. 76; Webb, 1999, pp. 71-2. in the walls and arks or forming part of the sanctuary screen. ble marked the transfer of Kiev’s administrative and sacral centre

55. “Whoever scolds the temple One fragment – a piece of a convex belt – makes it possible from Podol uphill, where the city cemetery used to be in the past. for its size falls silent dazzled by its to reconstruct it as part of a horizontal band adjoining the lower That was the first princely city – the city of Vladimir – which beauty of which there is enough for 49 every part of this cornice . launched the development of the upper Kiev in the 11th century

56. Mango, M., 2001, p. 8 All church adornments were full of symbolical meaning, and was carried on by the cities of Yaroslav the Wise and Iziaslav.

57. The 10th-c. Byzantine budget even the marble floor intarsia had its own interpretation. It was The Tithe Church built in A.D. 989 from the outset became the did not exceed one-seventh of the either a paradise meadow with flowers or an ocean washing the city dominant in the Dniepre panorama, no less significant for caliphate’s budget, while in the 11th c. the patriarchate earth, and broad undulating ribbons of the pattern were associat- the Kiev landscape than the Hagia Sophia was for the Byzantine 50

58. The Tale of Bygone Years, 1997, ed with the Jordan . capital. Prince Vladimir assigned a tithe, a tenth of his income, p.160. The church is full of light coming through the huge windows for its upkeep and thus determined its secular name.

59. On its ruins a small church which occupied virtually the entire wall surfaces between the The Tithe Church stood in all its beauty for nearly two and appeared in the 17th c. and was replaced by a new huge cathedral lesenes. The butt ends of the north and south arms of the cross a half centuries, until it was nearly fully destroyed in 1240 after on orders of Nicho were especially glowing with light where the triple window with Batu Khan had seized Kiev 59 . Archaeological research of the 6 early 20th century and in the 1930s made it possible to amass The surviving 19th-century drawing of the church ruins is valuable information shedding light on the architectural forms convincing evidence of the height of the two-storey galleries 65 . of the original structure 60 . Although the drawing is far from exactly informative, the in- The church plan was reconstructed by the outlines of the ter-floor cornices and the two tiers of windows in the gallery walls foundation ditches and only to a little extent by the remaining and the main part of the building suggest that the structure had walls (in the southwestern part of the building). What leaps to the two storeys. The desire to have a spacious second floor, the choir, eye is the intricacy of the plan and the large scale of the compo- in imitation of a similar grand space of the major Constantinople sition – the church was approximately 40 m long and 36 m wide. churches was the chief reason for numerous domes that flooded The domed cross-in-square structure with a nave, two aisles and every cell of the choir with light. three apses is clearly seen in plan. The general symmetry of the an- The south and west galleries were open ground-floor ar- nexes makes them look like galleries, most likely built originally, or cades 66 . The finding of a part of the gable top in the form of six perhaps rebuilt and supplemented with the second floor in 103961 . courses of bricks lying along the circumference with a surviving Horizontal parallel sleepers filled with mortar and reinforced course of indents between them was important for the recon- with vertical wooden pegs were laid in the foundation. Opus struction of the gallery apex 67 . The developed form and the signinum was added to mortar, giving it a rosy colour. In the surviving huge tiles of the upper course proved that the fragment beginning the (ceramic) filling was made specially along with formed part of the gable frame (precisely of the second storey plinthiform brick, but then broken bricks were used. Kilns were as one-storey galleries usually had a horizontal top). set up next to the construction site. Such methods of laying the The possible diameter of the gable ranges between 4 and foundation and organising production were traditional for Byzan- 5 metres: the fragment is quite deformed by being straightened tium and are largely traced back to Antiquity 62 . Imported to the out, which makes the smaller size more probable (the central part Dniepre banks, they attested to the involvement of Greek master of the west façade is about 7.5 m wide, and the smaller parts 4 m builders, as is fully corroborated by the chronicle report. to 5 m wide). If the fragment was indeed of the smaller part, the The walls and vaults of the Tithe Church were made galleries were topped with gables along the entire perimeter. of brick and opus signinum mortar. Together with limestone, It is not known how the church walls were topped. In Byz- brick (3 to 5 cm-thick square ceramic slab with a side 35-39 cm- antine architecture the central gables were usually accompanied long) was the main building material in and Byz- by straight lines topping off the corner compartments. The Tithe antine architecture. Its 3 cm-thickness distinguished plinthiform Church might have been topped off in the same way; anyhow, brick from contemporaneous Constantinople structures (usually structures closest to it in time were done in precisely this way. 4-5 cm-thick) and subsequent Kiev construction projects of the S.R. Kilievich made a unique discovery when she found an 11th century. However, this distinction is inconsequential and lies imprint left in the ground by an adobe next to the kiln. It was within the general technological tradition. All the more so since a rectangle with two longitudinal parallel lines inside, looking like the Tithe Church masonry has yet another distinguishing feature a schematic drawing of a structure with a wider central nave and that makes it possible to speak of the Constantinople tradition. two aisles. The aisles had semicircular tops, while the central nave I mean here the so-called “recessed brick” or “concealed had a gable formed by two lines meeting at an angle. course” technique. Courses of bricks alternated with rows of mor- In her 1982 paper Kilievich interpreted that drawing as the tar of the same thickness, with every following course of bricks church layout 68 . However, her original point of view, which G.Iu. recessed into the wall by 3-5 cm and concealed by a broad band Ivakin supported and according to which the drawing was the of mortar. That technique was characteristic of precisely Con- church façade rather than the layout, seems more justified 69 . stantinople and preponderated in Kiev and Constantinople in the The graphic fixation of the layout is a much more abstract and 11th century in forms so closely related that it is at times impossi- later method of “representing” the building. Furthermore, the ble to tell one from the other by photographed details 63 . layouts of 10th- and 11th-century churches always presuppose Another distinguishing feature of the Tithe Church masonry the presence of transversal lines. Besides, the apse form in the is the use of stone alongside bricks. This technique was known drawing has never been encountered anywhere else and is in fact in Byzantium under the name of opus mixtum. In Byzantium impossible. courses of bricks alternated with those of ashlar, while in Kiev Gables in the middle part of the church were quite common unworked stone (granite, quartzite, sometimes fairly large boulders) in Byzantine architecture. In the Church of Panagia Chalkeon was used. Such stone jutted out of the façade surface and usually of Thessaloniki small walls rise above the semicircles of the also formed horizontal courses. The gaps between stones were central parts, corresponding to the lines of the main vaults, and floated with opus signinum and often outlined with a sharp instru- form a decorative gable. Although the supposition that the Tithe ment (grafia) or impressed with rope to form rectangles, transform- Church could have the same form is far from indisputable, the ing stone masonry, as it were, into that of rectangular blocks. find made by Kilievich suggests that the possibility of other vari- The above technical features, beyond doubt, bespeak the ants of architectural forms should be given thought. The complex Constantinople origin of the architects who built the first church and to a certain extent symmetrical layout of the west annexes in Kiev. This fact also accounts for the main composition of the prompts the conclusion about their special purpose. N.I. Brunov building, although to understand the situation we have to get saw the close standing parallel walls on both sides of the central a broader picture of Constantinople’s architectural tradition. axis in front of the west façade as gently sloping staircase towers This need has to do with the size and the complex structure of sorts, or approach ramp. He also surmised that identical three-

60. The church was excavated by of the building. Despite the fact that four-columned churches part palaces might have been set up in the west corners of the D.V. Mileev (the north gallery and preponderated in Constantinople of the 10th century, no re- building 70 . There is hardly any ground for that, and a different apses in 1908) and by M.K. Karger (the rest of it in searcher has ever suggested that option when reconstructing the explanation is also possible. Symmetrical annexes may have ex- Tithe Church, which is bigger and more complex than those isted there – then the overall composition of the church, annexes 61. M.K. Karger was of that opin- ion, connecting that reconstruction structures. Its area is twice the size of the Church of St. George and galleries would be similar to the Katholicon (the diocese with the chronicle report about the of the Mangana. The foreign master builders were hardly expe- cathedral) of the Great Lavra monastery on (the

62. The article written by H. Schaeffer, who pinpointed the rienced in building such structures, so the idea at the heart of the last third of the 10th century). striking similarity of construction construction project was unlikely to have come from them. The Let us go back to the many domes of the church. Their technology of scale of the commission was set by the will of the client – Grand number suggests that they were raised above every compart-

63. Course masonry of brick pre- Prince Vladimir of Kiev, who was guided by the grand landmarks ment of the choir on the second floor with the exception of the ponderated in Constantinople in the 10th c. For a long time the Church of imperial Constantinople which had been built three or four central space under the dome. There is no doubt that the choir of St. George of centuries earlier but forever remained the most venerated by the was in the western part of the building, extended above all the

64. Tikhomirov, 1952, pp. 218-9. Byzantines and guests of their capital. They were the Hagia So- annexes on the west side, and went on eastwards above the aisles.

65. Ibid., pp. 53-4, fig. 16. The phia, the Hagia Irene, the Church of the Holy Apostles and the However, the crucial question is how far they extended, that is, find evidences that the galleries were roofed with tiles, although the main Grand Palace churches. whether they occupied only the west corner premises of the naos, part was Let us sum up the details enabling certain assumptions about crossed the north and south arms of the cross, or else were set up

66. Kilievich, 1982, pp. 41-2. the vertical structure of the Tithe Church. Of paramount impor- in side altar space.

67. Кiлiєвич, 1979, p. 17; Kiliev- tance is the invaluable evidence of the List of Russian Cities that The marble capital of the Tithe Church supported a rectan- ich, 1981, pp. 340–2. 64 the church was crowned with 25 domes . For all its worth, this gular masonry block (100 x 74 cm), which certainly evidences its 68. Brunov, 1953, p. 300. Approach ramps were common in big number suggests that it must have been a five-domed or even use in the triple-column arcade – a favourite motif of Byzantine Roman and Byzantine architec- seven-domed church. The annex domes indicate that the struc- architecture 71 . Such arcades were frequently set up in the arms ture – suffice it to ture must have had two floors, otherwise this number of domes of the cross to support the choir. D.I. Mileev also found in the 69. A Lost Art Rediscovered, 2001, pp. 13–42; Іvakin, 1979, pp. 121–3; above one-storey buildings would have hidden from view the course of digs two fragments of a square pier with semicircular Ivakin, Putsko, 1980, pp. 293–9. façades of the main part. moulding along the edges. Remains of an octagonal pier of the 7 Tithe Church have been discovered recently 72 . Such supports, it as having triple two-tier arcades and, consequently, a fairly too, may have formed part of the triple arcade. It can be surmised developed gallery, proceeding from the description left by Photius with a high degree of probability that arcades were used to set up and its kinship with the Church of St. Clement in Ankara 79 . If a gallery in the side arms of the cross of the Tithe Church, while this is the case, walls or piers rather than columns should have the definition of supports attests to the possible use of arcades served as its main dome supports. Then the replication of a simi- also in the upper tier. The similar composition of the Cathedral lar composition in the Tithe Church is of paramount conceptual of the Transfiguration in Chernigov will also have to do with the importance. intentional copying of the Kiev example (the Kiev marble capital It can be surmised that when Vladimir Sviatoslavich sum- is extremely similar to those of Chernigov in shape and size). moned architects from Constantinople to erect a palace church What has thus transpired is enough to try and find parallels (which was facilitated by the fact that his wife Anna was Byzantine in the range of forms of the Byzantine architectural tradition. Emperor Basil II’s sister), the church dedication and major struc- The church of the Alahan Monastery of the second half of the tural features were chosen under the influence of Constantinople 5th century, in which the desire to combine the basilica (with customs and the Grand Princess. The church composition seems a nave and two aisles) with the dome resulted in the enlarged to resemble more the Dereağzi church than the Church of St. middle compartment and the appearance of two-tier triple ar- Clement in Ankara. The two types are very close though; besides, cades between the main piers 73 . Half a century later a similar the open form of the west arm of the cross made the Russian solution, already in a developed variety of Constantinople, can be churches akin to the Dereağzi church, while the upper-floor ar- seen in the church of Qasr Ibn Wardan 74 . cades were characteristic of precisely the Church of St. Clement. In different varieties the composition of domed cross-in- The features of both types merged there and might have also been square space with arcades in the arms of the cross continued shared by the Church of the Virgin of the Pharos. to be topical during the construction of churches and cathedrals The Tithe Church was one of the mainstream phenomena from the 6th to the 10th century, including the Church of Virgin of Byzantine metropolitan architecture. Although we know next Mary in Ephesus, the Church of the Dormition of Nicaea, the to nothing about its décor, in techniques and style it was, most Church of St. Clement in Ankara, the Hagia Sophia of Thessa- likely, akin to the wonderful structures of Constantinople. An loniki and the Little Hagia Sophia of Vize 75 . extant fragment of the floor – an omphalos (navel, a circle in- Around A.D. 900 a church was built in Dereağzi (Antalya) scribed in a rectangle) is done in marble opus sectile, the precious not far from ancient Myra of Lycia. Although it is not known technique of marble inlay on stone slabs. The same technique for certain who it was dedicated to or what its purpose was, it is was used in another fragment in the form of a band. Excavations of crucial importance to the understanding of the genesis of the yielded a lot of white marble, slate and glazed ceramic tiles 80 . Tithe Church. It stood far away from Constantinople, but was They all must have been part of the decorative floor, although close to Myra, the centre of the veneration of St. Nicholas, and new discoveries of Byzantine landmarks suggest that earlier as- its remarkably sophisticated architectural forms and construction sumptions about the use of ceramics in wall decoration were not technique place it within the mainstream of Byzantine art . groundless 81 . In plan and even size it is a prototype of the Tithe Church. Broken pieces of marble slabs, cornices and capitals bring The domed cross-in-square church with a nave and two aisles to mind the chronicler’s description of a “marble” church, while had a developed two-storey west part – a narthex with the fragments of frescoes and mosaics evidence that the church had adjoining square staircase towers, an exonarthex of complex an accomplished décor. It is impossible to reconstruct the entire rhythm (a two-tier portico of sorts), and the choir above the aisles system of the façade decoration of the Tithe Church, but it is stretching throughout their extension up to the east walls. The nevertheless obvious that it was a fairly elaborate system. The triple arcades supported the choir crossing the north and south walls were covered with two layers of plaster, which bore traces arms of the cross, and the west arm was open: the gallery above of paint and decorative painting 82 . the narthex opened onto it with an arch (a doorway connected The Tithe Church became not only the dominant feature the narthex with the church on the ground floor). The Dereağzi of new Kiev, inaugurating the development of the upper town church was 33 m long (without the exonarthex) and 21 m wide, and assigning it a leading position in the city panorama. It also and the Tithe Church 28 m long and 18 m wide, with the square was the epicenter of the architectural ensemble of the Grand space under the dome a little over 8 m in the former and 7.75 m Prince’s palace complex. Excavations, mostly accidental, un- in the latter. earthed remnants of palaces around the church dating possibly The Dereağzi church makes it possible to imagine the likewise from the late 10th century, that is, the same time as the structure of the Tithe Church with a large degree of probabil- major construction project 83 . All of them are rectangular

70. Іvakin, 1979, pp. 120–1. ity. Guided by other considerations, that is, exact and in-depth structures about 10 m wide and dozens of metres long, crossed

71. Forsyth, 1975, pp. 223–37; knowledge of a later Russian landmark – the Cathedral of the by walls into separate spacious premises. What has survived Krautheimer, 1986, pp. 245–7; Transfiguration of Chernigov – N.V. Kholostenko arrived of the palaces is mostly foundation ditches and only sometimes Gough, 1985. 76 at similar reconstruction . Yet another question about the Tithe the foundations proper, but their structure of parallel wooden 72. Butler. 1929, pp. 19; Lassus, 1947; Krautheimer, 1986, pp. Church structure can hardly be resolved unless we address Rus- bars and pegs, pebble filling and crushed pottery mortar (opus 247–9; Mango, 1985, p. 151. sian structures of the first half of the 11th century. Namely, did signinum) is similar to the construction method of the church

73. Peschlov, 1977; Hoermann, it have two-tier arcades or only those under the choir? itself. Fragments of thin yellow brick associated with those struc- Keil, 1932; Restle, 1968, pp. 166– 78; Schmit, 1927; Krautheimer, The Dereağzi church had only ground-floor arcades and for tures are also close in clay thickness and composition. Numerous 1986, pp. 287–93; this reason could hardly serve as a model for two-tier composi- fragments of plaster with fresco and decoration cannot

74. Kholostenko, 1965, pp. 68-84. tions. However, in Russian churches two-tier arcades were a must be attributed without reservations to palace remains rather than

75. Recent research has shown in every structure dating from the first half of the 11th century – to those of the huge building of the Tithe Church. However, the that the church known under the name of Atik Djami in Constanti- the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Chernigov and the St. homogeneous finds make it possible to suppose that common nople and dating Sophia cathedrals of Kiev, Novgorod and Polotsk, which are the techniques were employed in the decoration of all those structures.

76. Poppe, 1976, pp. 197-244. most likely evidence of the same structure of the earliest Russian Situated 60 m away from the west façade of the church, the

77. Jenkins, Mango, 1956, p. 173. church. In all likelihood the Tithe Church was the source of the palace was oriented almost parallel to that façade. There was 77 78. Ainalov, 1905, pp. 5–11; compositional scheme for later construction projects . a gallery along the façade overlooking the church (the palace was Karger, 1961, pp. 56–9. Written evidence and the general historical situation make 52.8 x 17.6 m) 84 . It can be surmised that that structure was the

79. See also note 60 and Schaeffer, it possible to specify the genesis of the first Russian church con- main one in the entire complex and that a ceremonial square was 1973–1974, p. 210. cept. Although it was the first church in Kiev, it was not a com- between it and the church on which there stood an equestrian 80. While trying to visualize the image of the Tithe Church on the mon city centre, but a palatine church of Vladimir Sviatoslavich, group and sculptures brought by Vladimir from Chersonesus. basis of archaeological fragments, as A. Poppe showed convincingly 78 . The palace ensemble was It is difficult to say anything definite about the architecture we can in front of its west façade. of palaces. At first sight they seem rather primitive. However, 81. Remnants of a structure unearthed north of the Tithe The church was dedicated to the Mother of God rather than their distinctly rectangular layouts, scale and division into sepa- Church were thought to be the to any of Her festivals in particular (e.g., the Dormition), and it is rate large premises with cross-beams enable certain conclusions. rotunda, a tower-cham not by chance that this is how the chronicles refer to it. The pal- This type of a composition is uncharacteristic of wooden struc- 82. Kharlamov, 1995, pp. 185–90. ace church dedicated to the Mother of God has a parallel in the tures that are more often than not irregular and free in their 83. For information about the palaces of Qasr Ibn Wardan and 10th-century Grand Imperial Palace of Byzantium, where the layouts. Conversely, such structure is found in Byzantine palace Mireleyon see: Butler, 1929; Striker, Church of the Virgin of the Pharos (next to the lighthouse) situat- complexes of different epochs – in Qasr Ibn Wardan (6th centu- 1981. Kharla ed next to the chambers and the Chrysotriklinos served as the do- ry), in the palace next to Mireleyon of the 10th-century Constan- 84. Buchwald, 1979, pp. 261–96. 85 86 mestic church (whose enthusiastic description by Patriarch Photi- tinople , in the 13th-century palace of the Laskarid Dynasty , 85. Krautheimer, 1986, pp. 448–9. For palaces of Mistra also see: us has been cited above). It was built by Basil I in the second half and in (Mistra) and Constantinople (Tekfur Sarayi) of the Chatzidakis, 2001, pp. 110–8. of the 9thcentury. C. Mango and R. Jenkins have reconstructed 14th century 87 . Such palaces are also known in Romanesque 8 architecture (Wartburg 88 . The façades of those structures may purpose of the upper floor. The choir above the narthex rests have been decorated with arcades (Tekfur-Sarayi, Romanesque on vaults (flat-arched in the central part and cloister vaults in the and Venice palaces). The number of floors in Kievan palaces is side parts), in the naos the choir went on over the aisles laid unknown, yet at any rate there must have been at least two – the on wooden boards up to the east pair of piers under the dome. upper floor could be made of stone or wood. At all events, the The two-tier lateral arcades stress the longitudinal aspect unearthed fragments of decoration bespeak the official nature of space, which frequently prompts scholars to speak of the ba- of the interiors of those structures, in effect palaces. silica-style nature of the cathedral and to see in this some special Architecture of the early period of Kievan state history was meaning or even the original design of the building as a basil- that of significant projects of Byzantine and Romanesque art ica 92 . This two-tier nature is rather reminiscent of the Hagia of the late 10th century. Poorly preserved written sources, to say Sophia, where the dome dominates and determines the entire nothing of lack of traces of any monuments, make it impossible space, and it plays the same role in the Chernigov cathedral. to follow the development of the emergent architectural tradition Triple arcades that are very common in the architecture in the subsequent period. The at least 20-year-long break in con- of Antiquity and Byzantium in themselves have an air of a cer- struction suggests that there were no major commissions and that emonial composition – it is not for nothing that they are akin the Greek master builders returned to Byzantium after building to the triumphal arch composition. In Chernigov this aspect the Tithe Church and the princely palaces. Large-scale demand was expressed quite consciously in a subtle way . The middle for houses of prayer in Rus’ could be met by building wooden arch of every arcade is slightly broader and higher than the lat- churches, of which we know next to nothing 89 . eral ones, which breaks the monotonous rhythm and produced The following stage of large-scale construction in Kievan a cross-arcade orientation. The shape of supports enhances this Rus is associated with the 1030s – 1050s, the time of Yaroslav transverse movement. The slender ground-floor columns make the Wise. The opinion that the Cathedral of St. Sophia was built the arcades utterly transparent 93 , while the upper-floor columns in Kiev not in 1037 – 1045 but a decade or even 25 years earlier are in the form of rectangles with their narrow sides projected seems a figment of imagination. The exposition below will show into the dome space and, as it were, letting that space through it to be groundless. We shall dwell on this issue when describing them. The columns are made to look even narrower with the help the Cathedral of St. Sophia. of a trim strip that visually separates the side lesenes supporting The resumption of large-scale construction in Rus’ had the arches. to do with Chernigov rather than Kiev. The Cathedral of the Vistas opening through the arcades make it possible to see Transfiguration was founded on orders of Prince Mstislav Vlad- a surprisingly rich variety of planes and rhythms in the interiors imirovich of Chernigov, who in the 1020s was as powerful as his typical of the best of the Constantinople landmarks. They bring brother Yaroslav, who held the Kievan throne 90 . Anyhow, the di- to mind prospects opening from the aisles of the Hagia Sophia, vision of Rus’ lands between the two of them in 1026 was based the Church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus, and most of all from the on the goodwill and consent of Mstislav, who had scored a victory naves of the church in Qasr Ibn Wardan. The association with over the host of Yaroslav and the Novgorodians and could have triumphal, ceremonial compositions, with gates, certainly derives secured undivided rule over Rus’ for himself. When building the from the idea of the triumph of both divine and earthly power first and main cathedral in his capital, Mstislav naturally wanted brought together in Russian princely culture just as in the Byzan- its architecture to stress the vigorous rise of Chernigov as a new tine Empire throughout its existence. centre, which for a decade was on a par with Kiev. Not only did the upper-floor piers have the elongated rect- Although we have no reports about Greek masters coming angular shape, but also the ground-floor column capitals and to Chernigov to build the Cathedral of the Transfiguration, its imposts. This movement through the arcades makes the cruci- architectural forms and construction methods are convincing form composition of naos space quite tangible. The orientation evidence to this effect, as was the case with the Tithe Church. of the narrow sides of the supports to the viewer was highly typ- The foundation structure, masonry technique and material, ical of Byzantine architecture of all periods. While maintaining plinth and mortar all attest to it being the work of Byzantine a sufficient area of support, it enables maximum transparence master builders 91 . The church composition and decoration and immateriality of shapes. techniques also corroborate this conclusion. Any direct link be- There are even more exquisite ways of orienting the arcades tween the builder teams is out of the question: forty years had to the arms of the cross. Revealing all the four wall arches above elapsed and two generations came and went. For all its notable the arcades makes their rhythm even more tangible under the construction and artistic level, the Tithe Church did not entail central dome, while the semicircular openings make it physically the appearance of a stable tradition of local construction or the easier to fill in the lunettes and transform them from partitioning emergence of a school. The obvious link between the Cathedral into penetrable elements. of the Transfiguration and the Constantinople tradition can only The slight, almost imperceptible concavity of the upper-floor be explained by another advent of Greek master builders. arcades is even more surprising, and it, too, promotes the feeling However, the architectural situation of the 1030s already of the cruciform development of main space. The arcades ad- differed from that of the late 10th century. The ensemble of the join the central piers, with the lateral arches starting from their Tithe Church defined the image of Kiev as the seat of the Grand lesenes and resting on the central piers. But the surfaces of these Prince and his court, so the construction of the main cathedral piers facing the dome space find themselves removed from the of Chernigov was willy-nilly a competitive project. At all times lesene line. Their front edges are decorated with semicircular competition with the famous models results in imitation, and now moulding, and it is precisely by the projection of that moulding if Kievan masters and clients of the late 10th century looked that the piers are removed from the general line of the wall and for models in the Byzantine capital, the Tithe Church commis- the lesenes, with the moulding resting on the resultant projection. sioned by Prince Vladimir became a model for imitation when This play of space is a characteristic technique of Byzantine art the Cathedral of the Transfiguration was built by his son, Prince in which visual clarity and tectonic distinction (a legacy of distant Mstislav. No written source discloses this situation, but the archi- Antiquity) are always complemented with an intuitive search for tecture of the Chernigov cathedral is indisputable evidence to this the irrational. effect: the latter is so much like the Tithe Church that its explorer, All the distinguishing features of the Chernigov cathedral struc-

N.V. Kholostenko, used it as the basis for the reconstruction ture considered above are akin and nearly similar to those of the 86. Hempel, 1930, pp. 305-6. of the former (see note 88). The domed cross-in-square cathedral Tithe Church and the Dereağzi church. The three landmarks 87. The newly found poorly legi- ble remnants of a church at Podol with a nave and two aisles is practically equal to the Tithe Church are very close in size; we have already discussed the latter two, bespeak a very simple shed-like in size . The rest of the vertical masonry is represented by cen- and the Chernigov cathedral is 32 m long and 21.5 m wide, with composition of the trally-planned cruciform piers, with arches springing from their the square under the dome having a side of 7.75 m. There also 88. N. Makarenko started to explore the cathedral from the lesenes and supporting the vaults. are some distinctions. The Dereağzi church had no upper-floor architectural and archaeological The absent walls make the interior especially spacious, trans- (choir) arcades. Their actual presence in Chernigov and presum- point of view in the parent and akin to four-columned compositions. Nothing of the ably in Kiev might have had to do with concrete models – the 89. For more about construction techniques used in the Saviour kind existed even in the Dereağzi church, where all the small arches Hagia Sophia of Constantinople or the Church of the Virgin Church compared with the Tithe were cut in the tangible wall surfaces running along the spatial of the Pharos at the Grand Imperial Palace mentioned above – Church see: apses, cross. Cruciform piers were to become typical of all Russian struc- which bespeaks special ambitions of the clients and their com- 90. Discourse about the basili- ca-style nature of the building arises tures, and apparently this was also true of the Tithe Church. mission. from a Two-storey triple arcades built in the side arms of the cross At the same time there is a distinction between the Tithe

91. The columns of the Cathedral in the Chernigov cathedral were prompted by the desire to pro- Church and the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in the structure of the Transfiguration got their present look in the late 18th c., vide the Prince with a spacious choir. A staircase leads to it from of the altar-space. In the Dereağzi church the choir runs through- when their slender outside the cathedral, emphasising the differentiation and special out the length of the aisles. Apparently, the same was true of the 9 Tithe Church, which had it altar-space next to the central square façades. Niches appear here on the west façade (the vaults are so the sanctuary screen was along the line of the east piers under behind them), while the windows are lowered to reach the base the dome. The three parts of the sanctuary screen – the central of the vaults. one and those of the aisles – were not united visually (the same In Russian churches of the 11th-12th centuries the choirs division of the central and lateral altar-space was characteristic in the arms of the cross are usually equal to the height of the of the Dereağzi church). lower tier and located approximately at the middle of the height In the Chernigov cathedral the sanctuary screen is removed of the church. In the Cathedral of the Transfiguration the upper to the east by another transverse nave (compared with the Tithe tier is obviously higher. The reason, no doubt, was the desire Church) 94 . The naos was an exact square, the choir ended by the to have a fairly high choir and to decorate it with grand triple east piers, behind which the aisles and the central nave merged. arcades. Had the height above the choir been equal to the height The central and lateral altar-space thus opened onto the naos for of the lower tier below, the smaller arches above the choir, low its entire length and the sanctuary screens merged into a single as they are, would have gone down another 1.5 metre and in fact composition 95 . This should be seen as the influence of the Con- transformed from doorways into partitions. stantinople four-columned churches in which the integral square Moulded upper-tier supports are in height equal to the space of the naos dictated a clear-cut integral construction of the lower marble columns. This type of thinking takes us back to the altar-space. ancient order system and is perceived as an unexpected echo The distinctly defined central units, covered by the vaults of Hellenistic classicism. A similar composition is found in the of the arms of the cross, are the distinguishing feature of the Church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus of Constantinople – another Cathedral of the Transfiguration choir structure. Opening onto proof of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration builders’ affinity the naos through the triple arcades (supported by octagonal piers with the tradition of the Constantinople school of Byzantine art. in the west part) and flooded with light from six large windows, From the slate plates of the arcade stubs rise the arcade three in each of the two tiers (in the north and the south) and four arches and the central wall arches, below which are the apices more window openings in the west side, they form the main com- of the smaller arches above the smaller aisles of the naos. Groups partments. The lighting contrast makes this especially notable of three windows in the centre of the façades (one window in the because the rest of the choir is dim. west façade) are positioned to match the inner arcades, and the In the lateral parts above the narthex the units were covered three upper windows are cut in the lunettes of the central gables by cloistered vaults 96 , which is almost contemporaneous with the (approximately at the level of the arch openings of the lunettes Chernigov landmark. of the north and south wall arches). All these proportions are Domes over the corner compartments are not found in the traced ideally both in situ and in the cross-sections of the cathe- Constantinople churches of the 10th and 11th centuries. In them dral. the vaults of corner units rise only as high as the base of the The large size of the cathedral and the monumental nature central arches, while on the outside the vaults and central gables of its architecture predetermined its overall artistic image. In the rise above the corner compartments. However, in those structures Constantinople church interiors space is visually limited by planes the choir was placed only above the narthex staying clear of the and lines, whereas the Chernigov cathedral lacks such lightness: space of the naos. We will dwell on this issue at length later on, the massive shell and the permanence of major divisions are confining ourselves now to the observation that it was the choir clearly felt there. The wall thickness – the main dimension – is structure that led to the appearance of domes over the corner revealed by archways and the width of the lesenes. Space cannot units. The composition was balanced out by two east domes, be claimed to be the dominant determining all the rest: the shell which finalised the creation of the overall five-domed structure. is far too formidable. An example could again be sought in the Tithe Church as, Yet, this mass gives no feeling of any heaviness and inertia to judge by a chronicle report about the 25 domes, all of its units, of the material. The reason is rhythm, a fundamental tradition with the exception of the arms of the cross, were topped with of Antiquity and Byzantine art. The eye’s continuous movement domes 97 . from one shape to another, that swirling, is also present there. The special role of the choir is emphasised by its having Due to the preponderance of curvilinear outlines encompassing a separate entrance only through the staircase tower connected all parts of the building and the absence of inner walls the mass with the choir by an archway. A baptistery adjoining from the south appears as a developed structure. Its development rhythm, full and symmetrical to the staircase tower also had a separate entrance of magnificent solemnity, the intricately wonderful vistas both and was not connected with the cathedral space. It had two storeys along the axis of the main movement and across (views of ar- as evidenced by the doorway at the choir in the southern part cades through arcades are especially attractive), transparent of the narthex, similar to the doorway in the northern part. The architectural forms, and the strength and authority of the dome upper floor compartment could be entered only from the choir. canopy above fully convey the spirituality and sophistication The choir composition has yet another pointed accent. of the artistic language of the epoch. Don’t forget that the Tithe In the southern part of the choir the arches were supported Church could have been the same or nearly the same. The Ca- not by the wall lesenes, as in the northern part, but by paired thedral of the Transfiguration can and must be considered the semi-columns, of which only the capitals have survived, if frag- miraculously survived evidence of consummate architecture mentarily. The wall below the capitals has a smooth masonry of Kievan Rus’ of the early period. surface. Columns or semi-columns (possibly of marble) were Marble arcades, slate cornices and the sanctuary screen probably attached thereto: similar forms are found in outstanding formed the interior décor of the cathedral. Excavations in the Byzantine structures, such as the Nea Moni on Chios and San altar part yielded remnants of a slate pier under the communion Marco in Venice. Like the north wall lesenes, they rested on the table and four stubs of the ciborium above the altar. A syn- edge of the wall at the level of the choir floor. This southern part thronos with two steps in front of it was situated along the line of the floor might have accommodated the prince, which would of the main apse. Slate plates which were inlayed with triangular, account for its special decoration. rectangular and square marble pieces (opus sectile) and formed Transparent structure and the interrelationship of all the a broad decorative band along the perimeter of the square under major divisions was a distinguishing feature of Byzantine capital the dome were found next to the north arcade. structures – remember the composition of the north church The architectural characteristics of the building had to be

92. The substitution of columns of the Lips Monastery. Russian architecture fully inherited these taken into account when painting frescoes on the walls. To begin for piers in the Constantinople churches led to the removal of features, which can be easily detected in the Chernigov cathe- with, the inner structure was translucent: there are next to no arcades from the sides dral. In Constantinople structures the height of the columns walls in the dome space and the surface of the vaults is hid-

93. In the Cathedral of the Trans- often served as the vertical construction module while in Russian den by the arcades. A similar setup is found in Constantinople figuration the sanctuary screen was within the plane of the inter-altar landmarks the level of the choir was the chief determinant based churches with their façade walls cut by large windows, but there wall lesenes on which all other levels were calculated, as K.N. Afanasiev indis- the inside walls were lined with marble up to the vaults. No

94. N.V. Kholostenko recon- putably showed 98 . Frequently, especially in early structures, the traces of lining have been found in Chernigov while fragments structed the choir vaults of the lateral compartments of the narthex height of the choir is made equal to the side of the square under of frescoes attest to the primacy of fresco painting. The absence as domical the dome, and this relationship is found in the Cathedral of the of windows in all the upper-floor corner and lateral compart-

95. In Constantinople architec- Transfiguration. If we detract from it the height of the narthex ments afforded extra room for frescoes. ture light domes were often used precisely to light up the choir. They vault or the smaller arches running from the piers to the cathedral Sizable wall surfaces above the windows of all apses con- could be above walls, we will get the height of the columns. The niches of the stituted another important difference that had to do with the big

96. Attempts to reveal the secret ground-floor façades of the cathedral rise to the level of the col- height of the building (due to the choir structure). It was during of the compositions of medieval (including Russian) landmarks umn capitals. Higher up, at the level of the smaller arches and that period that the crucial altar composition of the Eucharist made, as a rule, the vaults above the narthex are the lower windows of the side was assigned its place, and the Chernigov cathedral must have 10 been one of the first churches to enable its location in the canon- from the same height, but as their width differed, their rise was also ical place – above the three windows of the central apse 99 . The different. The arches of the west parts of the lateral walls of the height of the apses was responsible for turning the wall surfaces naos rose the highest, the arches of the east parts symmetrical between them into a semblance of a pier by introducing there to them are noticeably lower (a similar arch was even re-modelled high lesenes, just as it was with the main piers of the cathedral. and raised higher on the west façade under the impact of the clas- Such huge framing of the central arch of the altar was absent sicist taste of the 18th century). The unequal width of parts of the in the Constantinople monuments. In the mid-11th century the walls came as a surprise because inside all the aisles were of the scene of the Annunciation appeared in the upper part of those same width, which was also a result of the disparity between the lesenes which, together with the Eucharist and the Virgin Orans inner divisions and the outer lesenes – another unexpected thing in the conch of the apse, formed a composition inseparable from for the 11th century not to be found in other Russian monuments. the painting on the dome and the main vaults both in content Such correlations are not observed in extant Constantinople struc- and in its general visual appearance to the congregation. It could tures either; a slight displacement of semi-columns can only be be that precisely such development of the painterly décor necessi- noted on the west façade of the Mireleyon (ca. 920) . tated the choir being restricted in the east by the side arms of the In the Chernigov cathedral façades attention is drawn to the cross, thus making the entire altar composition visible. rhythmically disparate divisions in the upper and lower parts The image of the cathedral’s intricately beautiful interior of the building. The upper, albeit not quite precisely, reproduces complements its fortunately surviving exterior [ills. 88, 95). De- the inner structure, while in the lower part of the north and south spite individual, at times rather coarse alterations of the 18th walls there is a row of nine similar niches. One of them – the and 19th centuries, the overall view of the cathedral wins over fourth from the east – was made somewhat bigger on each façade the viewers by the harmonious rhythm of its majestic five-domed and turned into a portal displaced from the transverse axis of the composition. The exquisite arches dividing the façades make this dome space. On the basis of this disparity a supposition has been rhythm delicate and lithe. The beauty of coloured and decorative made that the cathedral was started to be built as a basilica. This masonry bespeaks a rare thoughtful attitude to building technol- complies with the chronicle report that Prince Mstislav Vladi- ogy from the artistic point of view. A great cultural, and highly mirovich, who passed away in 1036, was buried “in the church probably the same construction, tradition is behind this monu- of the Holy Saviour which he himself had founded and which ment, just as behind the Tithe Church. by that time had risen to a height that a rider standing on horse- Early Russian churches differ markedly from the multitude back could reach the top with his arm” 100 . The difference of their Byzantine counterparts in the correlation of the height in construction techniques employed in the lower and upper parts of the arms of the cross and of the corner compartments. The of the cathedral also favours this supposition 101 . churches built in the Balkans, in the Caucasus and in Constan- The question arises whether the construction concept and tinople and its environs usually have clearly delineated vaults technique changed fast and the cathedral was finished within the of the arms of the cross rising above the much lower corner following few years, or whether there was a break in the construc- compartments. In Russian structures of the second half of the tion project. We have already considered the cathedral layout, 11th century all parts of the façades are of the same height, with which clearly attests to the integral overall concept and the prima- the vaults of the arms of the cross being at the same height as the cy of the basic domed cross-in-square structure (note 101). Let us rest of them, which results in their being crowned with charac- dwell on additional arguments in favour of the altered concept. teristically Russian semicircular gables (zakomars). The harmony The difference in construction technique is absolutely infinitesi- of the semicircular tops of the Chernigov cathedral is at the mal and has to do with the coarser irregular masonry in the lower source of the tradition – it is so convincing that it seems to cam- parts, where unworked stone was used in profusion. Meanwhile, ouflage an entirely different nature of its genesis. opus mixtum with a course embedded in crushed-pottery mortar The corner parts of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration remained the same in the two periods. Such difference is com- indeed rise only as far as the base of the vaults of the arms mon among 11th-century landmarks, with stone used noticeably of the cross and are terminated with straight lines (cornices), as is in the lower parts and giving way to mostly brick as the brickwork evidenced by masonry extant for nearly the entire height of the rises. Furthermore, from the outset the lower part of the Cathe- eastern part of the north façade. This is further proof of the dral of the Transfiguration was given regularity with the help origin of the tradition and the early stage of its development. of a decorative finish, which covered the masonry nearly entirely New are the domes over the corner compartments of the choir, and was patterned in imitation of regular quadra masonry. Ev- which balance out the heights of the façades and produce, to- ery quadra was framed with two parallel lines, and the resultant gether with the central gables, a rhythm of similar semicircular strips were coloured in red, showing quadras alternating with outlines. The construction of a spacious choir at the client’s crushed-pottery mortar 102 . request predetermined the appearance of additional domes: they The segmentation of the lower tier into similar niches and were conceived in advance, and counting on skylight through of the upper tier in accordance with the domed cross-in-square those domes, the architects left the walls of the lateral parts structure may well have resulted from a single concept – such of the façades without any windows. The domes received a well is the 14th-century Church of St. John Aliturgetos in Nesebar. thought-out and coordinated spatial solution, in which the drums However, in a church almost contemporaneous with the Cathe- of the smaller domes have the same height as the vaults of the dral of the Transfiguration – in Canli Kilise (Asia Minor) – four arms of the cross. The pyramidal composition makes the exterior ground-floor arch niches correspond to three upper-floor parts integral and symmetrical. of the walls. The beauty of the domed cross-in-square canopy and the The break in masonry does not follow a straight line: it ris- complex rhythm of the curvilinear outlines had been developed es from the east (where the initial masonry goes up to the apse ideally in Byzantine church interiors, but it was only in the windows) to the west, where it is observed in the high west portal, Russian structures of the 11th and 12th centuries that it was in the arch niches on both sides of it and, consequently, in the conveyed with such care in their exterior. In the Cathedral vaults over the narthex choir. The narthex composition with the of the Transfiguration it was enhanced and made more intricate classical domed vaults of its lateral parts is associated with the by many particulars of the façade segmentation. idea of the domed composition of the centre. The west façade The spatial composition is not as simple as it may seem composition is likewise absolutely structured from top to bottom at first glance. The side apses have to this day retained an outside with no hint of any duality. The sudden death of the prince projection on the eastern side, initially quite noticeable (the side might have interrupted the project, but there can be no doubt

97. Five to ten years later this scene was positioned in the same apses were raised by two metres in the late 18th century). A pro- about the single concept or the integral cathedral construction way in the St. Sophia Cathedral of jection also singled out the altar part of the cathedral, which period 103 . The emphasised symmetry and triumphant nature Kiev. Although clearly divided the volume into a five-domed square naos, the of the west façade show that from the very beginning it was re-

98. The Tale of Bygone Years, 1950, lower altar and the two-storey narthex, which was adjoined from garded as the main one. The princely chambers were on that side p. 101. the west, had no domes and was expanded by the staircase tower and, apparently, the ceremonial square, as it was in Kiev. 99. Kholostenko, 1990, pp. 6-8. adjoining from the north and the baptistery from the south. On the one hand, the general system of façade segmentation 100. This technique evidencing the architects’ attention to wall surface With the exception of the arms of the cross, the walls termi- is highly structured and, on the other, it is full of fine nuances finish may be proof, albeit inconclu- nated in straight lines (apparently, topped by cornices with a curb and distinctions. On the whole, it is dictated by the inner struc- sive, of the stone course). The walls were of uneven height, but were evened ture to such an extent as to seem its projection on the façades. 101. N.V. Kholostenko himself did not speak about any break in out in the 18th century. This was explained by the different width As a matter of fact, it has its own logic and its own stylistic princi- construction work or its duration. of parts of the walls: the arches crowning parts of the walls sprang ples. This applies above all to the relief segmentation of the walls However, assertions 11 and the system of decorative masonry. south façade and in the smaller eastern part of the north façade. Relief segmentation of the façades forms the basis of façade In the western part of the south façade the second niche is compositions, yet they are never massive or markedly jutting out. strangely placed at a higher level. The smaller parts of the north Nothing is added to or superimposed on the wall: the procedure façade have no second niches at all, and the wall surface remains is always that of detracting with the help of niches of various at the level of recess at the base of the lower windows. However, shape and depth, between which bits of masonry remain. Forma- the lesenes have side moulds simply hanging where the batter tive elements have a small profile, the correlations are mobile and should have been; in the eastern part one of the mouldings ex- shifting; just as inside the cathedral, they produce the impression tends to the lower windows. of a resilient and differentiated shell. All these effects are similar The west façade has trimmings of a somewhat special nature: to those observed in Constantinople art. segmentation here is uniform from top to bottom. The first niches The cathedral apses have semicircular outlines. Mouldings form whole parts, as it were, starting from the very bottom. The make the central apse look five-sided, with niches placed in three second niche is positioned precisely in the northern part. There tiers in it and in two tiers in the lateral apses. The lower niches are three moulds in the central part by the gable (as on the side all begin at the same height, but they are slightly higher in the façades), one of them ending in the batter at the base of the lu- central apse. Of the five niches of the central apse the three nette. The other two merge before reaching the level of the choir in the middle were turned into windows, while of the three niches and form a lesene going all the way down; the surface of the part in each of the lateral apses the ones in the centre were replaced is left even. The surface of the southern part is even all over. The with windows. In the lateral apses the niches closest to the main moulds at the gable hang, cut short at an indefinite level. apse were destroyed in later remodelling. The surface of the later- Niche trimming looks like a notched lesene. Only at the top, al apses is asymmetrical relative to the axes of the aisles, the win- where the moulds go away from the lesenes like the gable mould- dows were cut along those axes and the grouping of the niches ing, do they become obviously separated from the “core” of the in threes on the outside masks the different width of the surfaces lesenes. Every motif comes into being on its own, conjointness on the sides of the windows. is possible and logical, but not mandatory. The middle of the The borderline between the windows of the first- and sec- lesenes is formed by cluster compositions of semicircular and an- ond-tier niches corresponds to the level of the choir inside the ca- gular mouldings. In accordance with the general nature of forms thedral. The hollow niches in the second tier of the central apse tending to openwork, these mouldings are inside the niches, alternate with flat ones (with hollow niches placed along the axes), flushed with the lesene. Thus delineated, the pilasters of sorts cor- while the groupings of niches in the lateral apses are somewhat respond, in level and height, to the piers in the upper-tier arcades. haphazard. Above the windows are flat niches, a similar niche A parallel to the pilaster outlines is found in the pilasters of the in the south apse is symmetrically surrounded by hollow niches, Church of St. George of the Mangana, Constantinople. N.I. and as the wall surface to the right remained vacant, the archi- Brunov wrote a separate article on the oriental origins of such tects, taking up the rhythm of the already formed group, placed elements, but even more significant is his conclusion that they had another flat niche there. Such a niche could have been placed made their way to Chernigov from Constantinople 104 . on the other side if the apse surface had been seen as symmetri- In the central drum of the cathedral eight windows alternate cal with respect to the main nave axis. There have survived only with hollow niches of the same size, and the piers are decorated three niches in the north apse – the central one plus two to the with semicircular mouldings, whose small slate plate capitals make north – of which only the one on the outside is hollow. There them look like semi-columns in Contantinople churches. Every may have been a fourth niche, but it was lost in remodelling. one of the corner drums has only four, instead of eight, windows The different rhythm of the niches – three and four – in the tiers because the architects made no apertures in the part of the drums of the lateral apses and striving after symmetry in the apertures facing the vaults of the arms of the cross. The possible location placed asymmetrically on the apse surface were to remain a fea- of other windows is marked by both inside and outside niches; the ture of Russian architecture in the centuries that followed. This semi-columns are placed only on the sides of the windows. technique of filling the apse surfaces with niches, one next to or This type of a segmentation system makes the wall surface above another, was characteristic of 11th-century Constantinople less massive, more pliable, multidimensional and multivariate. landmarks. The elegance of the building is enhanced with opus mixtum It’s worth noting the special expressiveness of hollow niches. of stone and recessed courses of brick. It has already been men- Usually they emphasise the weight of the walls, but there they tioned that this type of masonry in itself can be virtually indisput- make the jutting out forms look less massive by cutting into them able proof of the Constantinople provenance of any Byzantine in the direction opposite to the projection. monument. That was the case with the construction of the Tithe In the layout the cathedral walls seem to be segmented below Church in the late 10th century, and the same correlation re- by the projecting lesenes, while in reality, as we have seen, they mained relevant for the Chernigov cathedral in the 1030s. were segmented by niches. All segments of the upper parts were Ornamental masonry was used so extensively, beautifully and formed in exactly the same way. The main surface of the façade regularly in the cathedral façades that it would have been surprising is the one closest to the viewer. Semicircular mouldings, similar to have concealed it under stucco. True, we know that façade coat- to the apses or the semi-columns of the inside piers, were accord- ing might be followed with decorative painting exactly reproducing ed an important role. We saw that inside the cathedral the arcade the front surface of masonry. Such painting has survived and been mouldings begin from the setback formed by the recess in the restored on the façades of the Church of the Holy Mother of God piers. In the façades these forms are interrelated in the same way. Eleusa (1080) in the village of Veljusa, Macedonia 105 . The semicircular mouldings run through all the piers between With their irregular shape revealed by fasciae (notches), the the windows and only through them. The piers with the adjacent stones in the masonry of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration window recesses are done like piers of the inner arcades, so groups walls upset the regular alternation of courses and enhance the of two or three windows on the façades can be correlated with free painterly nature of the façade surfaces. Bricks filling the nich- double or triple windows with marble insulating piers of the Con- es could be put vertically (the central gable of the south façade) or stantinople landmarks. The windows and mouldings begin at the crosswise (the west façade), or else form solar signs (the central ga- batter, the entire stretch of the wall recedes from the lower surface, ble of the south façade). In the central gable of the north façade and only the mouldings (semi-columns) remain within the plane the bricks are laid in two tumbling courses, each with a different of the latter. Parts of the walls turn into niches, and the lesene slant, and below runs another course with three horizontal alter- moulding forms the edges of these niches. The same segmentation nating with three vertical bricks. system is repeated if there are more windows above. All conches of the semicircular niches are filled with zigzag The compositions of the main parts of the walls form the masonry, as was characteristic of 11th-century Constantinople façades. Only in them do the windows appear in three tiers monuments. In Byzantine architecture many ornaments are de- whereas in other parts the windows are only below. The window rived from voluminous constructive or decorative forms. To get openings form symmetrical vertical groups. The middle parts an idea of the beauty of purely constructive masonry, it suffices have three niches one inside another: one begins under the first to examine the brickwork of vaults in the crypt of the Church 106

102. Brunov, 1930, pp. 21-9, espe- tier of the windows, another under the second tier (at the choir of St. Demetrios () of Thessaloniki . Many cially pp. 24-5. floor level), and still another occupies the lunette of the gable. vault building techniques were born of the desire to do without

103. Миљковик-Пепек, 1969, pp. The architects try to repeat the same segmentation, with the lagging jacks. Frequently symmetrical work in parallel tumbling 147–60; Миљковик-Пепек, 1973, pp. 5–6; Миљковик-Пeпек, 1983, exception of the lunette, in the smaller parts. At the base of the courses rising (at a 45° angle) from the centre to the edges was pp. 86–114; windows of the first tier there is always a recess in the wall, but used in making vaults. That was how a conch was made in the

104. Mango, 1985, ill. 58. higher up, in the absence of windows or semi-columns, there is apse of the Church of St. Abercius in Elegmi (Kursunlu) on the 107 105. Mango, 1968, pp. 169-76. confusion. The second niches are in the two eastern parts of the southern coast of the Sea of Marmara . A corbel placed 12 in such a conch would make masonry zigzagged, as in Chernigov small apses in the east wall; the compartment was, most likely, (12th-century masonry in the substructures of the Grand Palace topped with a dome supported by wall arches. It probably ac- of Constantinople) 108 . commodated the baptistery, which had a separate entrance from Precisely for this reason a “third dimension” seems to be the west. Both the staircase tower and the baptistery adjoined the hidden in many Byzantine ornaments: the pattern acquires already built cathedral and were connected with it only on the depth, if not always realised, yet invariably influencing visual second floor, where archways had been prepared in advance. perception, and becomes capable of dematerialising the mass The compartment above the baptistery may have been intended even further, making it mobile. The zigzag pattern in all the hol- for the prince or served as a chapel; its wall may have been lower low niches of the Chernigov cathedral seems to impart a certain than those of the narthex. Anyhow, could it be that the lowered forward movement to the recessed surface. In flat niches such outside west cluster lesene in the south façade had been correlat- masonry, in addition to looking festive, is inadvertently associated ed with the baptistery segmentation? 113 . with a recess that ‘introduces” space into the mass of the wall. The Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Chernigov can In the north façade one of the niches of the lower tier is topped well be viewed as an outstanding piece of 11th-century Byzantine with tumbling courses, a technique described earlier. Even more art, in which the obvious typological tradition merged with the interesting is the brickwork in the west gable of the south façade, striving after exquisite spatial, rhythmical, scale and decorative with corners filled with tumbling courses and the central part correlations. It was connected with the mainstream phenom- with courses echoing the gable outlines, resulting in a geometrical ena of Byzantine culture. In the absence of extant structures projection reminiscent of the conch masonry in the apse of the of the first half of the 11th century in Constantinople itself the Church of St. Abercius. Chernigov cathedral can probably serve as a source of inference In the north façade the space between the arch-like crowns on the forms, techniques and individual elements used during of the skylight windows is filled with bricks laid to match the that period in the Byzantine capital and, finally, on the general outlines of the arches. This looks like a distant echo of the typical development of artistic taste. Similarity with the landmarks Byzantine method of building a cruciform vault in tumbling of Asia Minor (Canli Kilise) and even with those of Armenia rows. We see the same ornament in the façades of the church (cluster pilaster mouldings) ought to be explained by the media- of Canli Kilise (near Konya, Asia Minor), which was built under tion of Constantinople, a melting-pot for various traditions. We the influence of Constantinople master at the same time as the find many ornamental masonry motifs appear in the walls of the Chernigov cathedral 109 . Their genetic kinship is most clearly Cathedral of the Transfiguration earlier than in Byzantine land- demonstrated by the patterned masonry of the staircase tower marks proper. of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration, the walls of which form Although it is impossible to explain the cathedral architec- a continuous decorative composition. The lower-tier arches ture only by the local conditions, it was precisely they and the of the three neighbouring niches are framed with brick courses, clients’ demands that were responsible for the peculiar interpreta- in which the gaps form either a zigzag or a vertical strip. The tion of the main tradition and for the originality of the cathedral resultant masonry pattern can be easily likened to a projection forms. The demand for a spacious gallery that so changed the of parts of flat-arched vaults divided by arches. structure of the canonical four-columned church or of the in- The upper segmentation row makes the second tier of the scribed cross type must have been the chief driver of structural tower look like a light drum by analogy with domical drums. alterations 114 . To fulfill the commission, the architects turned We have already mentioned that the semicircular mouldings to correlations known to Byzantine art of earlier periods. Such are in the window piers. Although only one niche has a window train of thought was characteristic of Byzantium: “… in the in the upper row of the staircase tower walls, narrow rectangular majority of cases and at all times Byzantine architects, designers (rather than semicircular) mouldings are in the piers between all and interior decorators considered older works – no matter how the niches. In this the row of niches is both similar to and differ- old – as models for their own creations” 115 . ent from the row of windows. The Cathedral of the Transfiguration is a monument tracing Belts of meander are laid in the most prominent parts of the its lineage from the Constantinople tradition but adapted to meet façades, the most intricate of them crowning the drum of the the demands of the new environment. It has not a single form central dome. Under them and over the semi-columns crosses that would not be known to Byzantine metropolitan art. Howev- alternate with the letters and figures in the form of bits of ladder er, the peculiar combination of these forms and the final thrust with three or four steps (Jacob’s Ladder ?). These motifs could of the message were decided by accents placed in accordance also have a symbolical meaning: it is not for nothing that they with the local needs. The pointedly structured nature of the in- alternate with crosses 110 . The belt crowning the staircase tower terior (the manifested strengthened arches, basic cruciform piers, consists of crosses over the pilasters and closed sections of mean- lesenes and arcades), voluminous and somewhat massive forms der between them. The significant similarity with the segmenta- dictated by invariably large-scale segmentation (nearly always tion of the drum may be evidence of the fact that the second tier equal to the wall thickness) infused the Chernigov cathedral with of the staircase tower was a sort of drum for a vaulted or domical expressly monumental stature, strength and measured solemnity (which is more probable) ceiling. If that was the case, the staircase that were to become mandatory for Kievan Rus architecture tower was not higher than the narthex. of the 11th – early 12th centuries. Following the Tithe Church, The pilasters of the staircase tower followed the same princi- it laid the foundations of the history of Russian architecture and

ple as the semicircular mouldings of the façades – the second-tier the assimilation of the language of Byzantine architecture, name- 106. Trust, 1947, p. 23, pl. 12, fig. 2. wall recedes forming a batter that determines the projection ly, of its mainstream metropolitan trend. 111

107. Strzygowski, 1903, p. 156; of the pilasters . All the pilasters of the staircase tower have The five domes of the cathedral merit special mention. The use Rott, 1908, p. 258; Ramsey, Bell, been knocked down, yet we can get an idea of their projection of light domes in Byzantium, their link with the choir and, last 1909, p. 404. and form by masonry traces and the framing of the niche trans- but not least, the five domes themselves were fairly common

108. Kholostenko, 1990, p. 9. formed into a window. When making that window, the architects features. But the coordination and wholeness of the Chernigov

109. Summing up the form segmentation method, it can be made ledges on both sides quite similar to the pilaster base. They five domes produce a special impression. The domes always seem connected with some construction were also pilasters of sorts, connected above with an arch and to stand separately in Constantinople. Even if they form a group, techniques, transformed into a relief window casing – an utterly unusual form a certain independence of every element is still felt. Such was

110. In front of the west façade that had never been seen in early Russian architecture till the 16th the case even with the symmetrically five-domed church of Vira was, apparently, the official area. 116 Princely chambers were erected century and appearing there only fleetingly. (East , Greece) . However, in Chernigov the inseparable there in the second The west façade is the most structured and emphatically community of the domes forming a beautiful pyramidal group

111. As a result of excavations symmetrical . The scale of the crowning middle gable is stressed and involving in its movement the vaults of the cathedral give the supervised by N. Makarenko, two symmetrical chapels were discov- by the increased height of the three upper windows. The size building an integral volume and majestically rhythmical round- ered at the east corners of the gable is made visually even more imposing by the meander ness – qualities to be the hallmark of future Russian structures.

112. The composition of the belt running slightly lower and adorning only the west façade (the The extraordinary similarity of the compositions, size and cathedral is surprisingly reminis- cent of Mistra monuments of the entire area over the meander is seen as the gable). No doubt, the details of the Tithe Church and the Cathedral of the Transfig- 14th-15th cc., west façade was the principal one, hence its emphasised expres- uration proves not only that Prince Mstislav of Chernigov chose

113. Grabar, 1968/1, p. 21. siveness 112 . Russia’s first stone church built by his father Prince Vladimir

114. Built in 1152 on a commission The west façade formed a veritable ensemble because in the centre of his “city” in Kiev as a model for imitation, but of Isaac Comnenus (see: Ous- penskii, 1907, p. 24; Krautheimer, it comprised the cathedral per se, the staircase tower and also that the first stage of the development of Russian architec- 1986, p. 376; a two-storey structure in the south symmetrical to the latter (the ture was a uniform process. This is also borne out by Mstislav’s

115. Rappoport, 1982, pp. 115- existing structure was built in the late 18th century). The struc- still earlier construction project – another small church of the 6. An expedition headed by B.A. Rybakov excavated the church. The ture was unearthed during excavations; the corner piers inside Mother of God of Tmutarakan, which had a nave, two aisles and excavations made its lower compartment cruciform, and there were three a narthex 117 . That stage ended with the death of Prince Mstislav, 13 and large-scale construction started by Prince Yaroslav Vladi- Kievan cathedral), compared with 7.7 m at St. Sophia’s of Kiev. mirovich in Kiev virtually the following year was inspired by the The 29 m high St. Sophia’s is the tallest of them, followed by the same ideas implemented in a different way118 . 25 m high Pantocrator monastery church and the 18 m high Hosios Loukas katholicon. The most striking difference is, how- ever, in the layout area of 1,365 sq m in St. Sophia’s of Kiev, 990 * * * sq m in Mangana and Pantocrator monastery (each) and 459 sq m in Hosios Loukas. The cathedral commissioned by Yaroslav the Wise turns out to be the biggest of them all; if the width of its Yaroslav’s construction project had to do with the building outer galleries is taken into account, its overall layout dimensions of a new district in Kiev – the “city” of Yaroslav. In this he fol- are 42 m x 55 m (2,310 sq m). lowed the example of his father. The new territory was outside Its five aisles appeared as a result of the desire to have Kiev and therefore the building of the grandiose St. Sophia Ca- a spacious choir manifested there even with greater purpose than thedral was of necessity accompanied by the raising of fortifica- in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Chernigov. As has tions. St. Sophia’s of Kiev marked a resolutely large-scale modifi- been pointed out earlier, the choir was intended for the prince cation of Byzantine ideas by Russian architects, which meant the and his retinue. Let’s dwell on this point at greater length. Upon birth of an uninterrupted, stable local tradition – school. It was arriving in Constantinople Russian princes and envoys visited its the first of the three St. Sophia cathedrals of the mid-11th cen- temples, the main of which were the Hagia Sophia, the Hagia tury built in Kiev, Novgorod and Polotsk. At the same time it is Irene, the Holy Apostles and such like huge structures where a masterpiece of 11th-century Byzantine architecture. the emperor attended services. They were always shown to the The concept of “Byzantine art” should be clarified here impressed foreigners. The service at the Hagia Sophia produced in the context of our study. It is in no way interchangeable with an indelible impression on the envoys of Vladimir in 987 (graffiti the concept of the “art of Byzantium”. It is a matter of the type left by the Russian pilgrims of the pre-Mongol era have survived of artistic culture, common techniques and style. Byzantium was on the marble enclosure in the southwestern part of the Hagia the centre of this art in the 6th century, and under Justinian it was Sophia choir). almost as large as the former eastern part of the Roman Empire. All those temples had big, at times intricately designed Common state borders, religious beliefs and organisation, as well choirs that accommodated the imperial retinue, the emperor and as culture on this vast territory led to common artistic develop- the empress. There they sometimes took the Sacrament from ment. It allowed fairly significant fluctuations in the nature of re- the patriarch and other clergy 122 . If we remember that service gional artistic development, but the ideas, techniques and forms in those churches was extremely sumptuous and that barbarous evolved within the bounds of the common culture type. The ages Europe of the early Middle Ages viewed the way of life of that of crisis in the development of the empire dramatically contracted great city with envy and admiration, we will understand why rul- its territory, but helped attain greater stylistic homogeneity of its ers emulating the Byzantine court etiquette set up choirs in their culture and consolidate the dominant role of Constantinople. churches. That was how it happened in Bulgaria in the 9th-10th Political, economic and state development of Byzantium centuries, in Venice in the 11th century and in Mistra in the 14th in the 9th – 11th centuries not only restored its former boundar- century 123 . The same explanation applies to the extensive choir ies to a certain extent, but also drew new territories into its field of St. Sophia’s of Kiev, where even the choir frescoes were on Eu- of influence. Direct conquest was far less efficient than the spread charist themes, corroborating and sanctifying the custom of the of religion and culture. Armenia and Georgia, while remaining prince and his retinue taking the Sacrament at the choir. “The independent states, retained the community which had formed choirs fast rose up over the aisles and the narthex of the princely ages before. Byzantine art as an artistic style or type concept had churches of Kievan Rus for the princes sought to copy the rituals become common for all those territories. We can speak of Byz- of the imperial court of Constantinople” 124 . antine art in Greece, Rus’ and Armenia in exactly the same way As St. Sophia’s plan is based on the Greek cross the dis- as of Byzantine art in Constantinople. Parallels can be found tance from the centre of the dome to its walls (including to the in later styles of world art, such as Gothic, the Renaissance and wall of the central apse) is equal. The ideal circle with the help Baroque. Common style never prevented art of every territory, let of which the Church of St. George of the Mangana was laid out alone country, from being original. It is in this sense that we can can be brought to mind 125 . The special shape of the upper ar- describe the art of Kievan Rus’ as Byzantine without detracting cades – their middle arch obviously higher – stressed their solemn in any way from its perfection or originality. What is more, it is only look. At the butt ends of the arms of the cross the entire composi- in this perspective that we can correlate it with world art history tion has a unified and triumphantly large-scale appearance. and truly appreciate the extent of its originality and perfection. The main cruciform piers of St. Sophia’s look so canonically We shall begin our acquaintance with the St. Sophia Ca- stereotype that it takes some time to see that the scheme is out thedral with an analysis of its composition. The very plan of the of the ordinary. Byzantine architecture has countless combina- building looks unusual: instead of the clear-cut scheme of Byzan- tions of arches and lesenes and occasionally cruciform supports tine monuments as such or the Cathedral of the Transfiguration are found, but never do they become an artistic form-building of Chernigov, we see a grandiose multi-aisle structure brimming principle as it happened in Kiev. A cruciform pier of St. Sophia’s with cruciform piers. It is only gradually that the eye begins to dis- of Kiev is far from being a figure wrapped in itself (although cern the main five-aisle core and two rows of surrounding galleries. visually it may look so). It is formed of five elements – a square

116. Before considering the struc- The five aisles are unique for Byzantine architecture: neither core and four lesenes that, rising up, cease to form a common tures themselves it is necessary to specify the chronology of new in Constantinople nor in any other territory do we find similar structure and become part of four different arches. They can be construction efforts. structures 119 . St. Sophia’s of Kiev was built as the main cathedral big or small, narrow or wide and that is why lesenes usually differ

117. In the 1920s N.I. Brunov of the capital of a great power. That fact alone was to account in size in Byzantine structures. At St. Sophia’s of Kiev the lesenes proposed the theory of the five aisles of the Constantinople domed for its large size. However, small structures predominated in Con- are not only identical – they are exceptionally big: their width and cross-in-square stantinople architecture, the tradition of which underpinned the projection are nearly equal to the central wall arches. This may

118. Brunov, 1927, p. 92 u.w.; architects’ efforts. The masters faced the problem of re-thinking be the key to their construction: the central arches nearly entirely Brunov, 1929/1930, p. 249; Sas- 120 Zaloziecky, 1925, pp. 70–1; Sas- the type and reinterpreting it on a large scale , which led to the rest on the lesenes and only insignificantly extend onto the pier. Zaloziecky, 1928, appearance of the five-aisle composition. “There is no doubt A double-ring bonded-face arch (wall arches were indeed made

119. Delvoye, 1967/3, p. 207. that due to the impossibility to imitate exactly the Hagia Sophia of two courses of bricks) is about 80 cm deep, with the lesene

120. Belyaev, D., 1892, pp. 139–40, of Constantinople or any other temple from among the imposing projecting for 70-75 cm. 173–4; Belyaev, D., 1893, pp. 105, domed structures of the Justinian epoch… they tried to add more The arch could have fully formed part of the pier masonry, 174; Belyaev, D., 1906, pp. 105, 109, grandeur to the inscribed cross type of church by multiplying however, four arches converging on a pier and resting on its core aisles in the city on the Dniepre” 121 . would have led to a fairly complex system of masonry. To avoid

121. Bošković, Stričević, Nikolae- The Church of St. George of the Mangana was the largest it and give the composition a simpler constructive base (as justly vić-Stojković, 1961, pp. 187–200; Demus, 1960; Delvoye, 1964, pp. of the 11th-century Constantinople monuments known to us, observed by N.I. Brunov), the builders of St. Sophia’s of Kiev 43–4. and the southern church of the Pantocrator Monastery held the supplied every arch slope with a support lesene projecting equally

122. Delvoye, 1967/1, pp. 140–1. same stature in the 12th century. Let it be recalled that Michael to the maximum extent. The reason was the specific organisation

123. “…A circle drawn as if from Psellus deemed the Mangana church to be enormous beyond of the construction process. One would think that there were not the centre circumscribed the church, tall and majestic” (Michael Psellus, understanding (see note 65). In Constantinople with its cult of the many Greek master builders and, given the large-scale undertak- 1978, p. dome the Russian monuments find parallels and even rivals ing and undoubtedly wide use of local workers, this type of over-

124. For similar observations and in size among the domes with a square base with a side of 10 m simplification would be both forced and sensible. It also shows analysis of Greek and Russian cooperation in construction projects in Mangana, 7.5 m in the Pantocrator monastery church and that the construction of the cathedral was a school where local of the 990s-1040s see: 8.5 m in the Hosios Loukas katholicon (contemporaneous to the builders were trained 126 . 14 Let us focus on the vertical structure of the cathedral. The lower N.I. Brunov, of all the 11th-century structures 129 . The effect is tier lesenes carry the smaller arches which support all the vaults rather spontaneous because purely practical considerations may over the choir. The vaults were put directly on arches without have caused the appearance of equally large lesenes. The visual any intermediate masonry . The arches and vaults have almost expressiveness of form is secondary: it comes into being after the semicircular outlines, so their height is approximately equal form has been created and is conveyed not only by the qualities to half their span. The height from the impost to the arch crown brought about by the human mind and labour, but also by those was determined technologically rather than by some particular inherent in the mass of stone itself, such as weight, the self-suf- proportion. An arch springing from some height produced a con- ficiency of inertia, and timeless and isolated material existence. structive system that determined the height of the vault 127 . Such qualities are not man-made and therefore cannot be deci- The system of vaults and arches over the choir was built phered: they can be pointed out but not expounded. This type just as logically . In the Constantinople churches the corner units of expressiveness is akin to pre-Romanesque or early Roman- were covered by groin or domical vaults. Had that scheme been esque structures, and it became part of the recognised concept used at St. Sophia’s, there would have been closed chapels in the of Romansque art. The intrinsic affinity of these phenomena eastern parts of the choir that would differ dramatically from the makes it possible to speak of Romanesque aspects in the expres- main space. siveness of the St. Sophia cathedral, even though this comparison Had the western parts of the choir been designed in the is meaningless here 130 . same way, the choir would have been occupied by dark and low Had this mass come together in clear-cut centrally-planned premises with cloister vaults similar to those under the choir. The supports, the association with Romanesque art would have be- expressiveness of such a composition would have been a far cry come evident. Characteristically, the architects who had in fact from the light-filled choirs of the main churches of Constan- created similar supports interpreted them in a different way. It is tinople that Yaroslav wanted to emulate. As a result the choir not only a matter of the lesenes going away from the pier into structure differed from both the Byzantine monument of the 11th the movement of different arches, or the arches blending within century and the ceiling in the eastern part of St. Sophia’s itself. themselves the lesenes of different supports into a single whole, In the east the smaller arches go up to the level of the slate plates or else the core of the piers never revealing itself and dissolving while in the western part this is the point where the arches spring. in the movement of the concave surfaces of vaults, pendentives The entire western part turns out to be raised by 1.2 m, the and domes. All those phenomena were quite characteristic height of the arches. The vaults of the arms of the cross in the of Byzantine art as a whole. St. Sophia’s also has some specific west part are cut by the arches. This correlation has not been combinations. The lesenes project by 70-75 cm while their slate repeated in any other piece of Kievan architecture, which proves plates at the arch abutments are embedded a mere 40-45 cm that this exclusive composition was born of concrete construction deep. The plates do not form the “capital” of the cruciform pier, needs. All domical vaults rise on drums, forming light domes. The but belong precisely to the lesenes. The movement of the lesenes choir accommodates light and solemn one-pier chambers singled on their own, their independence from the middle of the pier out of the system of overall special relations of the interior. stand out visually 131 . The expressiveness of arches and lesenes The higher vaults over the western part of the choir gave tied with them can best be described by the following quotation an impetus to fairly cardinal innovations in the general com- from Paul the Silentiary (Paulus Silentiarius): “Each arch joins its position. Due to the aforementioned rise the arch abutments unshaken foot to that of the neighboring curve at either end, and in the western part of the vaults of the transverse arms of the so they are fixed together on the edge, but as each rises in the air cross (over the choir) found themselves at the same level as the in bending line, it slowly separates from its former fellow” 132 . abutments of these vaults themselves – they begin to rise together The corporeal fullness of forms made it possible to connect and the arch seems to be carving out a portion of the western somewhat static spatial units into a powerfully integral organism, slopes of the vaults. All arches of the west half of the choir also united not only by the logic of the rhythm, but also by the un- spring from that level. However, the vaults of the arms of the questionable motive force of lesenes and arches. It also became cross above the middle aisles around the dome space spring even a source of the monumental solemnity of the cathedral. The five higher. Their springing point does not coincide with that of the aisles of the cathedral enabled the architects to unite the cruci- arches; rather they rise from the latter, thus restoring the usual form central space, a must for inscribed-cross churches, with the constructive correlation. As a result the vaults of the arms of the two-tier inner by-passes characteristic of central Constantinople cross have the form of a fantail with the parts closest to the centre temples of the Justinian era 133 . The free and equal arms of the higher than those over the outer aisles by the height of arches cross formed its main centrally-planned cruciform structure. over the choir. The beautiful pyramidal fantail composition The situation might have been unique but for one predeces- crowning the cathedral stemmed from the risen western compart- sor – the Hagia Sophia of Thessaloniki. Its composition likewise ments of the choir 128 . transformed the tradition of Justinian’s churches by organising One-pier western compartments of the choir are absolutely the skirting peripheral parts of the middle cross-in-square space original in 11th- century Byzantine architecture . The central into a two-tier structure. Their common structure of the domed pier has no lesenes and, reaching it, the four central arches seem cruciform canopy might have been enhanced by similar size: both to merge with each other. The absence of lesenes makes the cen- churches were about 17 m wide along the north-south axis within tral arches wider by that distance and higher by half of it. This is the limits of the free arms of the cross, and the arms of the cross not much, yet enough to highlight the “chambers”. Thanks to the were 16 m high in Thessaloniki and about 17 m high in Kiev. The light domes they are the lightest and have the most beautiful difference is in proportions. To transform the St. Sophia of Kiev ceiling as the four arches springing from the pier look like a flower into the Thessaloniki church, the domical piers should be moved and are aligned rhythmically in a common “swirling” with all aside diagonally by 1.5 m. Add to this the absent lesenes and the the arches and vaults. There is a nuance within the overall cen- smoothly skirting surfaces of Hagia Sophia’s walls and vaults, and trally-planned system which underscores the link with the overall we will see that, despite the heavier stocky forms, the spaciousness structure of the cathedral: emphasis is placed on the high domes of the main hallowing canopy structure is largely there. adjoining the central dome piers. The whole of the composition Another distinction is the rather sharp separation of the

125. From the modern point of view it would be logical to surmise is executed with great taste, ingenuity and artistry. Yaroslav the middle structure of the Hagia Sophia of Thessaloniki from the that the architects first determined Wise as the client could have been party to its elaboration while two-tier galleries skirting the structure. The galleries adjoin the precisely the level the architects supervising the worker artel did their best to trans- centre without being part of it. This is felt in the ground tier and

126. Komech, 1972, pp. 50-64. late the concept into life. These one-pier chambers might have especially in the upper tier. Hence the measured rhythm of arch

127. Brunov, 1950, pp. 154-200. served as the source of a long string of ceremonial halls of Rus- openings at the butt ends of the arms of the cross with a pillar

128. Brunov, 1928, pp. 258. It sian palace and monastery structures. reinforced by the lesene, rather than the opening finding itself makes sense to point to other distant sources of the St. Sophia Cathedral The central plan of the one-pier chambers of the choir in the centre, which emphasises the movement along the wall forms. balances out the division into the aisles, making the space of the rather than through it; hence the windows in the lunettes of the

129. Curiously enough, 19th-c. corner parts and the cathedral as a whole exceptionally integral. central vaults turning them into inner space boundaries. architects were, apparently, shocked by this lack of order and during The effect is engineered by the complete disappearance of walls Cross-in-square is not the only orientation of the middle repairs added in the entire five-nave naos. All the lesenes are alike, form part space of the St. Sophia Cathedral. The lateral apses adjoin and

130. Johannes von Gaza, 1912. of the cruciform piers and produce no impression of being part fully open onto the north and south arms and, together with the Col. 457-465. One can get the impression that our assessment of of the walls cut by the arches. However, the absence of massive central apse, also restore the classical correlation (naos – three- the expressiveness of walls does not entail the dematerialisation of form which the part altar), which has already been discussed and embodied in the

131. It is impossible to overlook the Constantinople architects always aspired to attain. As a result Chernigov cathedral (as a result of which the choir was not ex- age-old traditionality of composi- tional ideas. Already N.I. Brunov of the wholesale use of equally large lesenes, the architectural tended eastwards from the arms of the cross). Even in the dome associated the forms of the cathedral get the greatest “corporality”, to quote space of the St. Sophia of Kiev the viewer feels the solemnly 15 spatial “stride” of the far-flung altars, which encourages an espe- in the window and choir arcades (Kilise Djami of Constantino- cially fervent prayer, the fact that prompted N.I. Brunov to look ple, Hosios Loukas katholicon). for compositional and conceptual parallels among a broad range In articles about the marble details of the early structures – of world architecture phenomena 134 . the Tithe Church, the Chernigov cathedral and the St. Sophia The setting off of the altars against the middle structure of Kiev – authors often argue that those fragments belonged of the nave and two aisles and its being surrounded by a two-tier to preceding centuries and therefore had been imported to the by-pass provoke the feeling of the St. Sophia Cathedral’s affinity Dniepre region. The affinity of forms and motifs scattered around with 11th-century Byzantine cathedrals with squinches. Both va- the Byzantine world (Chersonesus, Constantinople, Mount Athos rieties were born of searches for a monumental style and recourse and Greece) is the only ground for this conclusion. Such views also to the architecture of the 6th- 9th centuries. The Hosios Loukas crop up in the assessment of St. Sophia’s marble details 136 . Mean- katholicon is a close analogy of the five-aisle church because its while, they seem to overlook the fact that all marble details – the two-storey skirting galleries are fully incorporated into outer walls capitals, portico surrounds, choir plates and the marble screen de- while the space under the dome is made, as it were, structurally tails – were made specifically for the given monument and a certain three-aisle by the segmented walls and three altars in the east 135 . place, and that they are limited by the span of openings and the Slate plates were embedded in the cornices and abutments thickness of walls (suffice it to compare two similar capitals – that of all arches of the St. Sophia Cathedral. Their trimming was of the Chernigov cathedral and that of the Tithe Church). simple – the plate edge was just chamfered, but there are as many They can’t be adjusted, but can only be made on purpose. varieties of that chamfer as there are plates, the fact evidently Just as the porticoes of the Kievan St. Sophia cannot be thought explained by the low level of the craft. By the nature of trimming to have been imported , so it would be logical to consider the oth- and the extent of projection the placement of plates is more er fragments made in situ. The stable age-old continuity of motifs often than not haphazard and only occasionally purposeful. is a distinguishing feature of art of the entire Byzantine period. The cornice of the apse walls and the bema has a more delicate It is just as impossible to regard the slate plates of the choir bal- trimming in the form of an ogee profile. It is replicated in a sim- ustrade as imports; along with the slate sarcophagi, they form pler way in different parts of the cathedral, with the chamfer a single group with the marble details. For this reason, despite now slightly convex, now slightly concave, but more frequently the obvious similarities between the ornamental motifs of Yaro- straight. A small platform below the plates determines the degree slav’s famous sarcophagus and early Byzantine art 137 , the point to which they are embedded in masonry and their projection. of view of M. Novitskaya and Y. Nelgovsky, which is shared by A. Not a single plate was embedded in masonry exactly at the plat- Grabar, seems more insightful and precise: the latter considered form border. The plate projection roughly takes into account the the sarcophagus to be the best piece of Byzantine modelling thickness of stucco for future fresco painting. The plates were of the 11th century 138 . A. Grabar also convincingly catego- often laid askew, sometimes quite awry, their projection is usually rised slate plate carvings among the mainstream phenomena inordinate. In the most primitive version of trimming a groove of 11th-century Byzantine art. was made at the bottom of the plate to mark the central platform Some additional information about the structure and decora- which was to orient the placement of plates in the masonry. tion of the St. Sophia Cathedral is in the diary of Martin Grune- The projection of plates in smaller arch abutments is approxi- veg, who visited Kiev in 1584. We learn from it about the flat roof mately the same and increases by the cornice which runs along the of the outside ambulatory, the marble porticoes of the cathedral arms of the cross at the level of the choir floor. The cornice plates and the beautiful floors of the inside galleries (laid in “Frankish” are devoid of any special trimming; they are the same as those patterns). The sanctuary screen doors no longer existed at that at the arch abutments, but their projection is far too big (their lower time, but the icons of the Saviour and the Mother of God had sur- profiles ill-fit the masonry). Because of its large extension the -cor vived: “it would have been not easy to take them away to another nice is made of several plates even at the lesenes. The cornice at the church because of their huge size” 139 . base of the central drum has a big projection and special profile The diary provides a very interesting detail about a polished (the pattern is the same but the proportions are different). (“of the mirror type”) plate of green stone next to the large The singularised middle and upper cornices and the more portico that, according to legend, showed what was thought painstakingly executed cornices of the apses and the main dome secret and hidden. Although it is not quite clear where that plate were characteristic of Byzantine architecture (remember the was – “above the great church doors (to the side of the entranc- Church of the Mother of God of the Lips Monastery). In Kiev es)” – next to the portico or in the lunette above it, an analogy their expressiveness is diluted by the general coarseness of forms. willy-nilly suggests itself with the Constantinople Hagia Sophia. The St. Sophia Cathedral does have finer nuances in plate place- The farthest plate to the right from the main portico leading from ment and forms indicating that the master builders had been the narthex into the main part had a marble representation of the trained in Constantinople, but they are next to indiscernible due Saviour, in front of which anyone entering the temple inwardly to the generally homogeneous monumental forms. They are made one’s confessions 140 . a genetic feature rather than conscious interpretation. Leaving aside individual descriptions, let us sum up the expres- The piers in the arcades and in the choir are emphatically siveness of the interior. Its large scale is wedded to the complexly “rounded off”, the quality enhanced by their cylindrical bases multiple combination of large uniform elements (spatial units, and tops that seem to tie up the profiled parts, be them edges or lesenes, arches). One feels in the cathedral the rhythm of the projections. On the whole there are eight edges, but there could measured movement of a mass of similar elements, the rhythm also be nine (as in the south arcade under the choir); the form of a sort of procession. The composition of the middle cross- remains the same. The piers at the choir are square in principle, shaped space is static to a certain extent, but this feature is with semicircular mouldings along the centre of the edges, which overcome by the energy of the skirting movement of a massive are, however, perceived as cluster junctions of cut and semicircu- structure. Expressive whirling coming from the light drum (“the lar projections. Meanwhile, it seems that supports of this shape ever-spinning miracle”, to quote Silentiarius 141 , is retained as the call for square forms of the terminating slate plates. Nevertheless, dominant and is supplemented by the sharply enhanced role they are square only in the choir arches. In the lower piers they of the space of the central apse. The best view in the cathedral are rectangular and stretched out through the arcades along the is that on the free and therefore deepest east arm of the cross, axis of the arms of the cross. Brought from Constantinople, this which is terminated by the central apse. The rhythmic develop-

132. Brunoff, 1927, pp. 35-58. technique had been used to great effect in the Chernigov cathe- ment of movement (the cornice of the apse, the conch of the

133. This is not to say, however, that dral. Here it is just a tribute to tradition, all the more surprising apse, the bema vault, wall arches and the ring of the drum) com- these parallels categorise the Kievan cathedral among the churches with since the mass of masonry resting on the plates is nearly square plemented by the conceptual bond among the representations squinches. in cross-section. The plates, projecting towards the aisles, have no (which is likewise developing vertically), the beauty of the mosaics

134. Kholostenko, 1967; Ivakin, projection into the arches between the piers (despite having been and the spaciousness of the gold background from which majestic Putsko, 1980, pp. 293-9. profiled at the bottom). figures come out to meet the newcomer all produce an unforget- 135. Makarenko, 1930, p. 71. In this case it is easy to explain the form. More unexpected table picture. 136. Novitskaya, 1979, pp. 3-12; Grabar, 1976/1, pp. 83-91. Y.A. and less understandable are rectangular plates at the piers of the The ability to fit representations into space, which was char- Nelgovsky also spoke out in favour one-pier chambers. The centrally-planned arch compositions, the acteristic of Byzantine art and which was remarkably noted by O. of St. Sophia mar 142 square cross-section of masonry above the pier, the placement Demus , acquired a special mien in the St. Sophia of Kiev. 137. Isaevich, 1981, pp. 204-11, in particular 209-10. of the piers themselves in the middle are all at odds with the The nature of the projecting lesenes and their active penetration

138. Sakharov, 1849, pp. 72, 105-6. plates being stretched out along the north-south axis. The fact of space have already been mentioned. Painting has boosted

139. Gaza, Silentiarius, 1912, remains unexplainable, and one can only be reminded of the their effect by the opulence of single representations on them that Col. 399. predilection of the architects of that period for the oriented form inhabited the cathedral and created a world of saints, zealots,

140. Demus, 1947. of supports and the commonplace rectangular marble stubs martyrs and priests taking in new converts. 16 The interior is made to look like Christian cosmos with full clarity by the big projection of the lesenes. In the south arm walkways as far as both the concept and visualisation are concerned. This were laid between the lesenes which seem to have narrowed was the cherished aspiration of Byzantine art and the inherited the arm and turned it into a middle rectangle. The same was tremendous importance attached by antique culture to the visible done in the north arm from the east side, while from the west world. Everything that Dionysius the Areopagite, St. Maximus they failed to fit the composition within the lesene line and went the Confessor, St. Germanus Patriarch of Constantinople and beyond the projection to the detriment of the pattern. The or- Theodore Bishop of Andida said about the meaning and ex- namental motifs in the arms are different, and the compositions pressiveness of church architecture is relevant and vital to the St. are generally oriented lengthwise rather than with respect to the Sophia Cathedral. It is one of the most integral extant examples central space. of the cumulative effect of art on a par with the katholicons Floors in the outer aisles were much simpler. In the south- of the Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni monasteries. ernmost apse the floor was made of glazed hexagonal tiles and The main impression one gets in the cathedral is that of the triangular pieces of smalt. In the north gallery, at the cathedral appearance of Christian cosmos to the beholder with the visual choir, and in the upper floor of the north staircase tower the embodiment of its supreme truths and the multitude of saints floors were made of glazed green plates (70 x 70 cm) with a mar- communicating them. This impact perfectly accords with the ble-like pattern; the floors of all the peripheral parts may have fact that the cathedral was intended for the metropolitan as the been the same 145 . church of all Russia. It was dedicated to Sophia, the universal The St. Sophia Cathedral was largely rebuilt in the second essence of Christianity which is inseparable from Jesus and the half of the 17th and early 18th century, the second floor was incarnate Word, the Logos, rather than to some individual or added to the outside galleries, and the multi-tier faceted tops event. The Sermon of Law and Grace of Kievan Metropolitan Hilar- of the old domes and the new domes over the galleries greatly ion and the St. Sophia Cathedral were pervaded with the feeling changed the building outline. Nevertheless, the distinct centricity of opening Christian cosmos for new people for whom the time and rhythmic diversity of the original composition show through of “grace” had finally come. For the congregation the emphasis all the extraneous features and continue to the general in the cathedral is not on the drama of the sacrifice made by Jesus outlook of Kievan St. Sophia’s. on the cross, but on the light and jubilant feeling of salvation The old outlook of the cathedral is best seen from the and communion with the created harmony of the universe. east. The nearly fully open surface of the masonry of the apses The invocation made by hundreds of believers and supported makes it possible to appreciate the original expressiveness of the by a host of the representations of saints and the divine liturgy façades . The composition of the building steadily and con- of the apostles, distilled in the prayer of the Mother of God sistently elevated towards the central dome. The single-storey as the Mediatress of the new people and their capital, reaches outer galleries gave way to the two-storey inner ones, the corners the heavenly spheres of the vaults and domes and, harmonised of the cathedral were topped with smaller domes, between which by them, spreads in a hallowing movement across the entire space the arms of the cross rose in a graded fashion, making the four of the cathedral. middle domes grouped around the twice as large central dome Everything wonderfully promotes this effect – the intention- to go further up. Just as in Byzantine churches, this gradual al compositions and forced solutions, reasonable centricity and movement is perceived from the top down rather than the other certain immobility, spatial compositions and massive forms, artis- way round; this is not the energy of ascent, or vertical movement tic logic and workmanship spontaneity. It is difficult to pinpoint (which would have been indisputable for the 17th century and the sequence in which that fusion formed, yet it is there to inform is seen through the faceted tops of the domes), but the broad us with lively immediacy about the spiritual mood of society hallowing movement of the domed cross-in-square baldacchino in the mid-11th century. spreading from the centre to the periphery. Let me add a few details about the fresco decoration of the All the architectural forms are subordinate to the general cathedral inasmuch as it defines its architectural forms. Painting rhythm. The positioning of every element is determined by the tended to split up large planes. Flat-arched vaults over the under- inner structure of the building. This architecture does not know neath aisles and the planes of wall over the arcades are divided into the meaning of façade: everything conforms to the objective separate rectangular representations framed by large ornamental of harmony and plastic expressiveness of the outer volume. The bands. The artists do not seek to make full use of the surfaces, wall surfaces are pierced by window and arches, and divided which accounts for the powerful impact of the large solid mosaic by lesenes and niches into several tiers. Although the cathedral compositions of the central apse. The painterly dissection of planes walls were terminated with straight cornices on both sides of the seems to parallel the rhythm of the marble facing of the churches gables of the arms of the cross 146 , their lines were totally eclipsed in the capitals or of the Hosios Loukas katholicon, revealing the by the circular movement of the domes, vaults, gables and arches common principle: the fields (representations) and framing143 . crowning the windows and niches. The domes had undulating In addition to laying structural accents, painting also de- cornices accentuated by a border belt with arching crowns over codes the symbolism of architectural forms, making what is being the windows. felt obvious. The overall composition of the domed cross-in- Curvilinear roofing was almost never found in Byzantine square church has already been described. Speaking about the peripheral architecture – in the Balkans, Greece or Asia Minor. Kievan cathedral, let us point out the angels, cherubim and sera- It was characteristic of Constantinople architecture and its appli- phim filling all the domes and cloistered vaults under and over the cation in Kiev was indisputably linked to that tradition. Yet, even choir. The uniformity of the representations and their placement in Constantinople it never formed such integral and systemic is seen here as communion with the Divine Principle disclosed compositions. We have already pointed out the beauty of the to the worshippers through them rather than a shortcoming. The tops of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Chernigov. Even heavenly host on the vaults is, beyond doubt, connected with the more consistently rhythmical circular movement orchestrated the heavenly protection of the prince and his druzhina. The outer expressiveness of Kievan St. Sophia. The beauty of the swirling south altar is dedicated to Archangel Michael, the leader of that movement of forms, so characteristic of Byzantine church in- host, the symmetrical north altar is dedicated to St. George, a sol- teriors, is manifest in the exterior of the Kievan structures just dier-martyr whose name Yaroslav took upon being baptised. as effectively. This distinguishing feature will become a hallmark Mosaic floors added to the rich colour and elegance of the of Russian churches for centuries to come and largely determine interior. Their pattern is known to us thanks to archaeological their subsequent evolution. works supervised by M.K. Karger, who scrupulously collected the The cathedral walls are cut through by arched openings slightest fragments and, jointly with M.V. Malevskaya, described of the window and porticoes and segmented by lesenes and them in detail and pieced them together in graphic reconstruc- stepped niches. The same decorative system is also typical of the

141. Of interest is the specific tion 144 . Neither in technique (mosaic set in mortar and inlayed Constantinople landmarks 147 . The surface of the apses is an structural division of the cathedral with the help of lesene decoration. stone slabs), nor in motifs, nor in general compositional methods excellent example of a well thought-out combination of structur- Saints are do floors differ fundamentally from those in Constantinople al and decorative principles. The three windows of the central

142. Karger, 1961, pp. 182-205, churches. Carpet-like compositions are made of geometrical apse begin at the level determined by the structure fig. 74. motifs in which circles tied with straight or likewise circular bands and decoration. The use of slate plates makes the window piers 143. Totska, Erko, 1976, pp. 121-2. preponderate and jointly form a characteristic flowing ornament, similar to stubs between the windows, a genetic derivative from 144. See studies by N.I. Kresalny, Y.S. Aseev and V.P. Volkov in the the rhythmic nature of which seems to reflect the curvilinear triple altar windows of Constantinople churches. The windows 1950s (Kresalny, Aseev, 1955, pp. outlines of arches and vaults. are topped with high arches. At the level of the apse conch is the 27-9) The central square is outlined with a broad ornamental upper row of niches, under which there appeared an interme- 145. Schaeffer, 1973–1974, pp. 197–224; Ousterhout, 2005, pp. band; the central field, unfortunately, has not survived. Work diate tier of niches because of the large height of the cathedral. 182–92, 207–13. on inlaying the floor in the arms of the cross was complicated It has been supposed of late that the intermediate niches were 17 initially windows, which were filled in later on to accommodate iniscent of the window pier of the central apse). The doorway the mosaic scene of The Communion of the Apostles 148 . Although in the south gallery wall (next to the staircase tower) leading to the this version may be tempting for drawing a conclusion on the outside gallery ambulatory bespeaks the closed nature of the cathedral painting concept, it is groundless from the point of view upper-floor inner gallery (just as its east wall with the window). of the architectural composition. The structural segmentation of the facades produced by the In Byzantine architecture niches were often filled in after the lesenes, arches and niches is even more pronounced compared arches framing them had been laid; it was a building technique with the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Chernigov. As has unrelated to any change of concept. Furthermore, all St. Sophia been noted above (see note 155), it is quite in line with the tradi- niches were built in a similar fashion, many of them still retain tion of Constantinople architecture. Construction and masonry corner puddling going beyond their fields onto the adjoining decoration methods are just as similar. Opus mixtum with con- mouldings. We know not a single Byzantine monument that cealed course, which had already become traditional for Kiev, would have three fairly big windows placed directly over the large was used to build the St. Sophia Cathedral, the masonry carefully windows of the apse 149 . Besides, two tiers of niches over the three finished and mortar frequently short of polished. Brick cours- lower windows were made already in Chernigov, where there are es and individual stones were marked with notches, imitation likewise no traces of later relaying. quadra masonry was also used extensively, outlined in colour or The windows and niches of the outer apses were determined with a rope imprint on wet mortar (masonry finish has survived by their inner two-storey structure. They have no synthronon, in good condition under the windows of the central apse). Back- and the first tier – a window surrounded by niches – starts much grounds were often coloured in white and structural lines in red. lower than in the central apse. The first row of niches is at the A representation of the cross made in fresco technique on the level of conches of the lower apses, while the second row corre- float finish during construction has survived in a west façade sponds to the level of vaults over the choir. The short upper win- niche 154 . dow is restricted by the low conch of the upper-floor apse. Westerfeld’s drawing showing the St. Sophia Cathedral from The heights of the central and outer apses were determined the east makes it possible to suppose that figural representations by the inner structure of the cathedral. The central apse has the were placed in the apse niches. We do not know if they were same height as the vaults of the arms of the cross over the aisles, executed on the coating or plaster applied to the façades later on. and the adjacent vault of the east arm of the cross (the bema The careful façade surface finish does not prove irrefutably the vault), in conformity with the stepped structure of the central absence of plastering in the first place (see note 115), it is nothing group, is above the apse outline. The outer apses rise up to the but testimony to the high perfection of construction work. base of the light drums over the east corner compartments. The The centrally-planned stepped construction of the main and middle apses have no two-storey structure, and their heights are numerous smaller domes crowed the grandiose cathedral. Domes not strictly defined. The architects structured them with the aim were placed above every cathedral unit, with the exception of the of making the overall composition integral and beautiful. Their arms of the cross. The smaller and medium-sized domes cor- heights were determined by the gradual rhythm, the four tiers respond to the gradual elevation of the vaults, with the general of niches (with windows cut in the centre of the lower and next movement culminating in the central dome drum with its 12 but one tier) are similar to the outer ones in number and their windows. A wide meander belt was laid over the windows of the placement levels are close to those of the central apse 150 . central dome. The other façades were surrounded by galleries, two-storey What we know about the architecture of the St. Sophia inside and in width equal to the smaller naves, and single-storey Cathedral can be summed up as follows. Greek architects of the outside and as wide as the central naves. The entire cathedral 10th and 11th centuries were familiar with every one of its forms, elevated to the central dome gradually, step-by-step so consistent- although not all of them had prototypes in the art of that period. ly that the natural supposition is that there had been an integral Some of them are traced back to the preceding centuries, the fact original concept. However, for quite a while the composition explained by the prestige and role of churches of the Byzantine was thought to have grown from the mid-11th to the early 12th capital. The outward impact – traditions and influences – lays century 151 . It was not until quite recently that the opinion of the bare and defines the artistic legacy which had become the ABCs primordial origin of the cathedral, together with all of its galler- and manual for the architects of the St. Sophia Cathedral; ies and staircase towers, gained the upper hand, although there however, while explaining to us the origin of familiar elements, remain many problems yet to be settled 152 . they help but little in understanding the specific appearance The walls of the cathedral on both the ground and the up- of the cathedral. The originality of its architecture lies in new per floor are segmented with the help of lesenes, the placement correlations of the already known shapes that came into being of which corresponds exactly to their location inside. There is under the influence of concrete circumstances and construction one window in every section of the wall below while in large parts requirements . of the side façades there are high arches with windows on both Requirements set by the client, apparently, the prince or the sides. Three middle parts of the west façade of the cathedral are metropolitan, to build the biggest temple in Rus’ and to arrange pierced by archways which had marble porticoes, just like the a ceremonial and light choir there were the main reasons for the doorways of the side façades. St. Eusebius of Ceasarea under- original makeup of the cathedral. This postulate makes it possible scored the representative nature of this motif by aptly comparing to explain the changes in standard techniques proceeding from it to the empress and her bodyguards 153 . the specificity of the cathedral construction process as such. All The unanimity of the architectural structure of the entire that is inimitable from the historical point of view, and therefore cathedral is stressed by the continued rhythm of the triple arcades brings us close to understanding the true nature of the architec- along the line of the arms of the cross which form ceremonial ture of this building. walkways in the centre of the inside and outside galleries; the The huge five-aisle cathedral with a double row of galleries, west side arcade may have also been set up on marble columns. staircase towers and thirteen domes lighting up the choir and The solemn air of the west façade was strengthened by two stair- forming a complex pyramidal top of the entire structure, without case towers in the northern and southern parts of the west gal- parallel anywhere, is a remarkable monument of Russian archi-

146. See chapter by V.D. Saraby- anov of the present publication, pp. lery. The vaults of the outside galleries rested on flying buttresses, tecture and culture of the mid-10th century. Artistic perfection 180-262. which sprang from the outer wall lesenes to those of the inner and singularity demonstrate the independence and creative

147. For more about windows and galleries and thus reinforced the complex structure of the main self-sufficiency of Russian architecture. window frames see: Vyssotsky, 1972, core. All gallery units were open, with only the east unit of the Right after its completion the Kievan cathedral became pp. 54-60; Rappoport, 1994/2, pp. 94-6; Siromyat outside north gallery turned into a burial vault, because of which a consciously chosen model for the main cathedrals of Novgorod

148. The upper windows of the the inner gallery doorway was bricked up and the burial vault and Polotsk. This is borne out by similarities in their dedication middle apses are bonded by a com- was separated from the west with a wall and an archway. The and the main compositional methods. The wooden cathedral mon two-storey building structure. That would have northwest corner premise of the outside gallery, structurally sim- of Novgorod – the 13-domed oak church of St. Sophia men-

149. Karger, 1961, pp. 154-75. ilar to single-pier corner space of the choir of the Novgorod St. tioned in the chronicle – burned down in 1045, when the Kiev

150. Nearly thirty years ago Y.S. Sophia Cathedral, apparently, had some special purpose. It could cathedral construction project was on the whole finished. The Aseev, I.F. Totskaya and G.M. Sht- be that the need to set it up forced the builders to move the north new cathedral was built on commission from Prince Vladimir ender carefully studied the second floor of the inner staircase tower southwards by one unit. Yaroslavich of Novgorod and Yaroslav the Wise himself, so its

151. St. Eusebius of Ceasarea, At the ground-floor galleries all lesenes have a simple rect- kinship with the Kievan model is only natural. What is surprising, 1858, p. 515. angular shape, and the wall surface over the arches is segmented however, is that the princes of Polotsk, who constantly opposed

152. I.F. Totskaya has for decades with niches. The lesenes of the upper-floor façades of the inside Kiev from the late 10th century and plundered Novgorod scrupulously accumulated infor- mation about the cathedral façade galleries were made to look emphatically smart with two pro- in 1066, found themselves under the influence of the prestige and finish (see Totska, jections on the sides of the central semicircular moulding (rem- beauty of the Kievan cathedral and the Novgorod one built after 18 it when they were building their own St. Sophia cathedral. imirskaya Street (presumably, the church of St. Irene), in the The three St. Sophias formed a special group in 11th-centu- Georgievsky Lane (the church of St. George) and on the estate ry Byzantine architecture. Their common dedication was traced of the metropolitan’s house near the Streletsky Lane (dedication back to the chief temple of Constantinople and was explained unknown). They were usually thought to be five-aisle struc- by its authority for the newly converted people and at the same tures 162 , for which, however, there are not enough grounds. Most time by the desire to be on a par with the Byzantine capital and likely, they were nave-and-two-aisles structures with side galleries to have a St. Sophia of their own. The primacy of the Kievan and a narthex (according to D.V. Mileev 163 ). Two of them – the example determined the five-aisle composition of all the three Church of St. Irene and the church on the metropolitan house cathedrals, and it’s worth stressing the exclusivity of this form for estate – had staircase towers in the northwest corners (the founda- Byzantine architecture. Born of specific local requirements, it was tion of a round pier of the tower has survived in the latter case). never reproduced in subsequent construction projects 155 . This alone is proof that the outer aisles were galleries. When In Kiev itself the building of St. Sophia was but part somewhat later a winding staircase was indeed put up inside of a large-scale construction programme. Following in the foot- the St. Michael Cathedral of the Vydubichi Monastery, it failed steps of his father, Yaroslav founded his “city”, which in size to make its way into it discretely – an indirect evidence of the surpassed that of Prince Vladimir. The new earth bank with lack of precedent. In the monuments under review it is logical wooden walls extended for 3 km. Its laying was, most likely, the to imagine staircase towers standing next to the cathedrals and first in a row of conceived projects because it transformed the surrounded by galleries. “field outside the city” into a protected place that for the follow- Had only the foundations remained of the St. Sophia Cathe- ing fifteen years became the new city centre. For all the generali- dral, it would have looked like a nine-aisle structure. In plan the sation of the account of Yaroslav’s construction endeavours, the unearthed structures have on the whole five aisles. Although gal- Lavrentievskaya chronicle report under 6545 (1037) was quite leries were not an obligatory form of church architecture of the informative: “Yaroslav founded a great city (Kyev), his city has 11th century, they seem to have been precisely that in the time the Golden Gate, also founded the church of Saint Sophia for of Yaroslav. The outer aisles of the Church of St. George and the metropolitan and after that the church of the Annunciation of the metropolitan estate church are much wider than the inter- of the Holy Mother of God, and then the monastery of St. mediate ones; in all likelihood, they were galleries (we have ob- George and Saint Irene”. served the same correlation between the outer galleries and aisles There is no doubt that work went on simultaneously at sev- of the St. Sophia Cathedral). St. Sophia’s has remained the only eral sites, that they required a large number of experienced structure in Kiev to have five aisles. Only the main cathedrals craftsmen and unskilled workforce and that all those resources of major Russian cities have inherited that composition, which were readily available in the city. In addition to master builders was originally intended exclusively for that type of buildings. who worked at the invitation of the prince and formed the back- To judge by construction techniques, the three excavat- bone of the Grand Prince’s artel, a sizable portion of the urban ed churches form a single group for the duration of the time population worked as hired hands 156 . of Yaroslav the Wise. Fragments of frescoes, mosaics, glazed tiles, The Golden Gate of Kiev was a rectangular structure built slate and marble details found during the digs attest to the sump- across the earth bank with a high archway in its side walls. The tuous appearance of those churches. The main dimensions of the gate was about 25 m long and about 12 m high and had a span Church of St. Irene correspond to the width of the St. Sophia’s of 7.5 m (the size of the space under the dome of the St. Sophia nave; the square-base of the dome of the two other churches Cathedral). Inside the archway, at the height of about 4 m, there has a side of over 5 m. It is intriguing to compare the size of the have survived holes with traces of wooden beams which evidently Church of St. George with that of its Constantinople namesake, served as a battledeck (a century later the Golden Gate of Vladi- which was built practically concurrently. I mean the Church mir was built in a similar way). of St. George of the Mangana, which Michael Psellus found The earth banks with wooden structures adjoined the long enormous (see note 66). The Kievan church is much smaller – 24 walls of the gate, made them durable and left imprints on the outer x 27 m vs. 30 x 33 m – but then they were structures of a third surface of gate masonry (that is, first the wooden structures of the (rather than second-) scale order among the Russian landmarks earth bank were built and filled with earth, and then the walls were (the Church of St. Irene was 28 x 28 m). raised and the gaps were filled with mortar). Building methods (the Although the structure of those monumental Kievan build- size of brick, mortar, masonry finish techniques and the way the ings will never be verified conclusively, a number of essential foundations were made) were similar to those used by the master problems can be considered at least hypothetically. The presence builders of the St. Sophia Cathedral 157 . of staircase towers is evidence of the choir and the second floor The general composition of the Golden Gate had a millen- over the smaller aisles inside the churches. If we proceed from nium-long tradition: it traced its lineage back to Roman struc- our postulate that single-storey galleries surrounded the main tures via Byzantine specimens. An archway and vaulted gateway buildings on three sides, three options were possible when setting with a small tier above (an attic of sorts), several archways and up the choir. One was to place the choir over the smaller aisles, the upper battledeck were already found among city gates, such with the exception of the east arm of the cross. This brings as Porta dei Leoni of Verona, Porta Pretoria of Aosta and Porta to mind the compositional methods of the 7th century (Qasr Ibn Nigra of Trier. In the Byzantine period the desire to make the Wardan). Another option differs from the first by the reduced city gates even more unassailable prompted the citizens to place area of the choir from the east: the choir does not extend to the holy images on them (for instance, the famous of Christ was east corner (altar) compartments – a replica of sorts of the placed at the Chalke Gate, the main entrance to the Grand Pal- scheme of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Chernigov

153. Komech, 2004, pp. 131-8. 158 Also: Komech, 2005, pp. 7-12. ace of Constantinople . in a more archaic version, with the choir closely surrounding the Their common compositional The Church of the Annunciation was erected over the Gold- central space. Still another option is to confine the choir only methods, building techniques, en Gate of Kiev as a symbol of the protection of the city and the to the space over the smaller west aisle; this version was to have

154. A precious report about the circumstances of the building of the state by the supreme forces. As far as we know, there had been a future in Russian architecture starting from the first quarter church of St. George has survived no churches built over the city gates until then, and the idea may of the 12th century. in a copy of the have jelled in Kiev stage-by-stage. Additions and arches inside After the spatial innovation of the St. Sophia cathedrals –

155. Vyssotsky, Lopushinska, Kho- the Golden Gate, the same as chronicle reports, may shed light the obvious emptying of the central cross-in-square space of the lostenko, 1976, pp. 63-85; Vyssotsky, 1979, pp. 22-38; Vyssotsky, 1981, on this issue; in any case the second stage fast followed the first, naos – any of the above schemes seems to be at variance with pp. 142-73. and the church was already there by the late 1040s 159 . There has the nature of this architecture. The only way to go about the

156. Mango, 1959/1. been no unambiguous solution to this problem so far. The prac- structural interpretation of the churches under review is to regard

157. S.A. Vyssotsky dates the addi- tice of implementing a single idea through consecutive additions, them as nave-and-two-aisles structures with a narthex flanked, tions by the late 11th c. and associ- ates them with repairs rather than which emerged in the course of building large cathedrals, may on north and south, by galleries (single-storey or, which is less the construction be an argument to the opposite 160 . Martin Gruneveg left a very probable but cannot be ruled out, two-storey). We then get

158. S.A. Vyssotsky and E.I. interesting description of the Golden Gate, recording a 16th-cen- in plan a U-shaped choir similar to the familiar Kievan monu- Lopushinskaya (Lopushinskaya, 1978, pp. 33-7) carefully studied the tury point of view that may be a historically true account of the ments of the second half of the 11th century. Golden Gate situation: “A chapel was built over the gate, as is customary with The Church of St. George was scrupulously explored during 164 159. Isaevich, 1981, p. 210. the Rus, who adorn the tops of their gates with beautiful small excavations of the past few decades . Fragments of frescoes,

160. Karger, 1961, pp. 216-37; churches, giving them to gods for protection. They may have mosaics, glazed floor tiles and even a marble column have been Afanasiev, 1961, pp. 174-9. 161 borrowed that custom from the Greeks” . discovered. The researchers’ opinion of the overall structure 161. Mileev, 1911/1, pp. 117-21. Let us now consider three other Kievan churches of the of the building as a church with a nave, two aisles and a narthex 162. Borovsky, Sagaidak, 1985, pp. 52-6; Borovsky, Sagaidak, 1996, mid-11th century. Their remnants (foundation ditches, foun- surrounded by galleries is of exceptional importance for under- pp. 29-32. dations and fragments of wall masonry) were found on Vlad- standing it as a whole. Unfortunately, the two other churches 19 are inaccessible for archaeological investigation, but then it is The reduced central square predetermined the shape of the highly unlikely that anything significant from the point of view arcades in the cross arms – they were made double rather than of information has survived after wholesale digs and construction triple, with one intermediate pier, octagonal in the side arms of the projects of the first half of the 20th century. cross and round in the west (the arcades were dismantled and re- Our knowledge of the development of architecture in Kiev placed with broad arches in the 17th century) 166 . itself is limited to the structures considered above. However, St. Sophia of Novgorod is surrounded by a single tier a true understanding of the development of art in Kievan Rus’ of galleries, the lower ones conceived initially as part of the of the mid-11th century is possible only after an analysis of two structure and the upper added in the course of construction 167 . more cathedrals that, although built outside Kiev, are closely The galleries were not merely open arcades as in Kiev, but had linked with its architectural tradition and school. The St. Sophia a special purpose and structure. A staircase tower was fitted out cathedrals of Novgorod and Pskov not only laid the foundations in the southwest corner and the other corners accommodated for the development of art in those cities but, together with the side chapels. The latter entailed the need to have them fairly St. Sophia of Kiev, have exemplified the best and, fortunately, the capacious, most likely as a result of which their width was made best preserved of the artistic tradition of the epoch of Yaroslav equal to that of the central nave rather than to that of the smaller the Wise. With their common features and differences, the St. aisles (as in Kiev). The intention is also corroborated by the fact Sophia cathedrals add to our knowledge of the unity of Russian that the west walls of the eastern chapels were shifted westward. culture and of the evolution of its local varieties. The new plan correlations led to a number of grave con- structional and compositional problems. The choir floor is at the same level both over the galleries and over the cathedral itself *** (as in the Kievan cathedral). All the aisles and inner galleries of the Kievan St. Sophia have the same width, therefore the vaulted ceiling over the choir, the vaults and the arches under the According to the First Novgorod Chronicle, the St. Sophia Cathe- choir have the same height of about 4 m, approximately half the dral was built in Novgorod in 1045-1050 “on the orders of Prince choir height. In Novgorod the galleries are twice as wide as the Yaroslav, his son Vladimir and Archbishop Luke”. Nothing had cathedral aisles, so given the system of semicircular ceilings with been built of stone until then. Builders must have come from vaults supported by likewise semicircular arches, the gallery ceil- elsewhere, and most certainly they came from Kiev, as is attested ings should be twice as high 168 , the same as their floors. by the architectural composition of the cathedral and the circum- The surviving southeastern chapel of the Nativity of the stances of its construction. The commission came not only from Mother of God is capped with a semicircular vault supported the archbishop and the Novgorod prince, but also from his father, by the semicircular arch of the apse in the east. The abutments Yaroslav, the Grand Prince of Kiev. Even the logic of Kievan of the apse arch are at the level of the stone slabs of the cathedral urban development was replicated to a certain extent. Indeed, arcade, that is, they correspond to the general mandatory struc- Yaroslav founded a new and bigger city outside the “city” of Vlad- tural level. Although the north gallery was repeatedly destroyed imir, and the St. Sophia Cathedral was built of stone in the former and restored, its earliest plan shows that the northeastern chapel (the earlier wooden cathedral of St. Sophia had a different loca- had a similar structure. The same is true of the northwestern tion and was not that important). After the wooden church of St. chapel because the symmetrical base of the lesenes is evidence Sophia was destroyed in a 1045 fire in Novgorod, Detinets, the of the existence of semicircular arches there, while in the western local Kremlin expanded and renovated by the prince, was chosen part of the south gallery, where there was no chapel from the out- to host the new construction project. It immediately emerged set, flying buttresses were built instead of arches. It seems that the as the architectural dominant of the city and never relinquished three chapels and their structure played an important role in the that role throughout the subsequent centuries. general composition of the building. They were responsible for Construction materials and technology were basically the width of the galleries, which in turn led to their high ceilings. similar to those of Kiev. Masonry of brick and stone with opus The choir plates and floors turn out to have common levels signinum mortar and concealed course became even simpler in the central space and in the gallery, as a result of which the and coarser in Novgorod as mostly boulders were used to make smaller arches and vaults over the choir are elongated, their walls and piers. Nevertheless, all the arches and vaults were made height being equal to their width, which is twice as big as the in classical concealed course brickwork. The front surface of the usual correlations. Now if in the Kievan St. Sophia arches spring walls was commonly outlined and coloured to create an illusion directly from the slate plates, in Novgorod there first comes verti- of regular brick or stone masonry. In the brickwork of the lower cal masonry, which gives way to the radial masonry of the arches. parts of the central apse there are light-clay bricks evidently Similarly, vertical masonry first rises over the arches at the base brought from Kiev because no such clay is found in Novgorod 165 . of the vaults, and only then are the vaults themselves laid. Large The chief argument in favour of the Kievan genesis of the surfaces extend over the arcades of the arms of the cross, offering Novgorod cathedral is the similar general composition of the opportunities for painting, while the transversally united vaults two monuments. Each has a nave and double aisles on both over the choir create autonomous poorly lit structures that are sides, galleries, staircase towers and spacious choirs with one- invisible from the central space 169 . pier chambers in the west corner and is crowned with many Basically similar to the ground-floor structure, the upper-tier domes. With the prince’s commission assigned the leading role spatial composition rests on the arms of the cross surrounded and the involvement of the same architects in both cathedral by a horizontal sequence of smaller arches, the homogeneity construction projects (of course, far from all the master builders of which is enhanced by the rectangular piers of the arcades were transferred to Novgorod, but some of them probably and (octagonal on the ground-floor and distinct from the rhythm almost certainly were), one might have expected the Kievan of the lesenes). sample to be replicated exactly. However, other functional re- The corner parts of the choir were turned into single-pier quirements and Novgorodian tastes imparted their grandiose chambers . The octagonal central piers have no lesenes and, just stone cathedral with such powerful and distinct originality that as in the Kievan St. Sophia, the four arches springing from them it frequently served as a model for local architects in the centu- have spans wider that those of the other small arches. The inte- ries that followed. gral compositional motif and the spread-out voluminous shapes St. Sophia of Novgorod is smaller than its Kievan pro- help blend the compartments spatially into a single whole. This

163. Shtender, 1974, pp. 202-12. totype. The Tithe Church, and also the Chernigov and Kiev effect is, however, somewhat diluted by the shape of the arches Efforts undertaken by G.M. Sht- cathedrals were structures of the largest scale that remained un- in which parts of vertical masonry (originating in the ground- ender, an outstanding Novgorod restoration worker, surpassed by the domed cross-in-square monuments of Constan- floor zone) transform the overall central-plan composition into

164. Had triple arcades been made tinople. The Dormition Cathedral of the Pecherskaya Lavra (the the parallel movement of adjoining shapes. The vaults break the at Novgorod’s St. Sophia, the arches Monastery of the Kiev Caves) alone was built on an even larger central-plan effect even further. The units closest to the centre would have had spans of a mere 80 scale in the 11th century. K.N. Afanasiev was the first to discover are capped with light domes, to which the “inverted-V” vaults 165. See meticulous research by G.M. Shtender: Shtender, 1977, pp. the possibility of grouping Russian churches by the size of their of sorts of the adjacent units are directed. The vertical masonry 30-54; Shtender, 1982, pp. 6-27. dome square-base (see note 109). St. Sophia of Novgorod is, between the arches and vaults deepens the vault space and makes

166. The structural correlations so to speak, of the second rank in scale and has analogues in St. it again parallel rather than convergent. Inside the smaller domes of the vertical composition of the cathedral are analysed in detail in: Sophia of Polotsk and the Dormition Cathedral of Vladimir. The start right over the arches and seem to be elongated vaults. Komech, 1976, pp. Novgorod cathedral has the side of the central square of 6.1-6.2 The central flat-arched vaults at the arms of the cross were

167. The choir over the outer m vs. the 7.6-7.75 m side of the Kievan cathedral. The Novgorod slightly lowered so that they turned out to be approximately aisles extends as far as the east wall where, as distinct from the Kievan cathedral walls are, however, slightly thicker at 1.23 m vs. the 1.12 of the same height as the corner compartments – a principle model, no m thick walls in Kiev. opposite to the stepped pyramidal composition of the Kievan St. 20 Sophia. All the extrados are approximately at the same level (with Although the inner structure of the cathedral (height and the smaller vaults elongated and heightened and the larger ones the arrangement of lesenes, windows, gables and domes) pre- lowered), owing to which the domes outside likewise rise from the determined its exterior, on the whole it turned out to be rather same height. unexpected. The big height and vertical proportions of the The Byzantine canon determines the expressiveness of the cathedral are obscured by the adjoining high and wide galleries. central space. Its cruciform nature, the dome above and the Extensive unrestricted development has the upper hand over the rhythmical repercussion of the curvilinear outlines of the arches vertical movement of forms. The domes set at the same level cap all produce a powerful effect on whoever enters the cathedral. the entire volume, therefore movement goes from them sideward However, the unusual height of the building (the choir is almost and downward rather than through them. Might, strength and 2 m higher than that of the Kievan model, and the Novgorod inner cohesion predominate in the general impression. The in- cathedral is proportionately 1.5 times higher) and the multi- violable whole cannot be shaken even by the peripheral location ple weighty vertical shapes evenly filling the cathedral impart of a large staircase tower with a wide dome. a lot of novelty to it. The unifying principle of the baldachin is The architects were mostly concerned with harmonising the matched by the parallel coexistence of separate spatial units. The overall volume solution. Special attention was paid to finishing feeling of a single structure is combined with the peculiar align- touches – the gable cornices and the decorative arches crowning ment of separate vertical spatial “columns”. The eye-arresting the drums. This also explains the appearance of the cathedral ascent of large lesenes and supports replaces the calmly descend- façade termination above the gables for the first time in early ing rhythm of lines and surfaces of the Byzantine church. The Russian construction practice. The walls of Chernigov’s Cathe- vertical proportions and the rows of smaller arches producing dral of the Transfiguration and the Kievan St. Sophia were ter- a strong and somewhat distracting rhythm of peripheral elements minated with straight cornices on both sides of the central gables, bring to mind the idea of a cube rather than pyramid. and the domes alone imparted complicated and beautifully Even though the architects built a very tall cathedral (higher curvilinear silhouettes to their volumes. The Novgorod cathedral than its Kievan prototype), they did not perceive it as a vertically retained the straight termination only in the eastern parts of the developing organism, and despite the fact that all of its interior side façades, while in the west side semicircular and triangular parts are full of verticals, it is generally perceived as cube-shaped. gables were put up at that level to match the outlines of the vaults The three horizontal levels of stone plates, which in the past behind them. With the reduction of the number of domes, the had aerial correlations, leap to the eye. The two belts of iden- gables became responsible for forming the silhouette of the Rus- tical smaller arches evenly skirting the central cruciform space sian church volume, and Novgorod’s St. Sophia pioneered those at two levels also develop horizontally. They are split by blind quests. There is evidence that they were made quite consciously. wall planes, as a result of which vertically they are not connected The west corners of the cathedral have flat-arched vaults visually, and this only emphasises the horizontal development oriented along the north-south axis. Their butt ends capped with principle . the gables actually give onto the cathedral side façades. However, The master builders’ train of thought can hardly be de- onto the west façade these vaults open with their semicircular scribed as spatial: they cared above all about the stone shell of the slopes. The south vault slope is concealed by the adjoining stair- building. However, the situation is peculiar in that the Byzantine case tower, while the north vault slope was to be distinctly visible. architectural tradition fixed predominantly on a spatial solution But the architects raised a decorative gable in the form of a semi- was reinterpreted in this way. The two principles – traditional and circular wall in the west, in front of the north vault, thus connect- newly formed – coexist, depriving perception of integrity and ing the gables into a single movement along the façades. This first unity and replacing it with complexity and multi-variability. The manifestation of the striving after a special rhythmical organisa- composition of the cathedral lends itself to diverse interpretations tion of the termination of the major volume of a church building because its expressiveness is polysemantic. became the starting point for the subsequent centuries-long On the one side, the rhythm of curvilinear outline is present development as the main creative quests of architects of the 11th in the cathedral. The scale of the central dome and copious light through the 16th century went precisely along those lines. put the upper parts fully in command. The movement seems High galleries overshadow the cathedral facades. The east to be descending from them, coherent and harmonious. The façade organised in a special way is the only fully visible one. This supremacy of single command, a sort of ‘monarchist’ system is symmetrical façade has stunningly monumental forms and dom- felt indisputably. ineering rhythmical organisation. The three tall apses define its On the other side, the straight and clear-cut extended spaces centre, their scale and might of vertical ascent emphasised by the forming parallel structures in the interior dramatically emphasise domes that carry on their movement . As in the Kievan cathe- the upward movement. Straight horizontal and vertical lines de- dral, the central apse is pentagonal with semicircular dividing tract from the expressiveness of the curvilinear shapes and even mouldings, and its strong projection determines the special nature invade them. An act of will power left on that architecture an and activity of the composition. The corners of the cathedral are imprint of a culture that differed entirely from that of Constan- highlighted by large lesenes while the semi-arches (in shape corre- tinople. Its greater bulk and energy hint at the incipient culture sponding to the vaults behind them) transmit the movement to the of a people whose history had more in common with the states crowning group of domes. The lean-to roofs of the galleries make of Romanesque Europe than with those of Basileía Romaíon. the symmetrical structure of the cathedral look grandiose, the Instead of the complex integrity, it is a triumph of multi-compos- might and solemnity of its shapes to be appreciated from afar. ite simplicity in which the “monarchist” composition principle That reckoning was not accidental because the cathedral coexists with a sort of “oligarchy” of shapes . was built atop the Kremlin hill, which had been emerging as the Interior masonry produces a mixed impression in the ca- city’s administrative centre from the second half of the 10th thedral which remained unpainted till 1108. On the one side, century and primarily as the princely and episcopal centre in the there is a lot of unworked stone that gives a feeling of heaviness mid-11th century. The St. Sophia is seen practically from every and physical inanimateness. Also characteristic of Romanesque part of the city and its environs. From the outset it was built not art, this aspect is aggravated by major geometrical segmentation. merely as the residence or the centre of the Kremlin ensemble, On the other side, the stones and bricks are embedded in mortar, but also as the centre of the whole of Novgorod. The east façade the shapes look handmade and form a solid shell in which every- facing the river was to become the visual image of the entire city, thing – piers, lesenes, arches and vaults – are linked inseparably and that fact determined the architectural forms of the cathedral. and even the uneven texture produces the impression of con- The scale and height of the cathedral confronted the ar- tinuous movement of surfaces that shape not so much volumes chitects with the task of locating the window openings. On the as space. Masonry techniques can lighten even massive forms ground floor the apse windows of the chapels closing the galleries because wide layers of opus signinum balance out the heaviness form the lower level of openings while the lower windows of the of stones and bricks that seem to be first floating in a liquid lateral apses are located higher. The three windows of the cen- substance and then get set and still. This impression is enhanced tral apse (the middle one is the highest) form the central group; by the careful finish of opus signinum and stone framing with initially they were cut lower and finished completely, after which fascia. The movement of architectural forms is contrasted with the arches crowning them were dismantled and the windows were the immobility of their formative substance, which produces raised about a meter higher. Most probably, the architects appreci- a feeling of conflict between the spirituality of the ideal structure ated the height of the cathedral under construction and changed and the inanimateness of the solid and inactive mass of matter. the window level to get the best general composition of the façade. Material rhythm acquires form-building properties only in the The way the other windows were located suggests a certain regular course masonry of the octagonal and round piers and the degree of experimentation. Now if the small windows in the east radial masonry of the arches. walls of the galleries and the outer aisles are purely functional, 21 the three upper windows of the apses form a pyramidal group. The masonry technique is closer to that of Kiev than of Novgorod; However, that group is far from really united. The windows the same affinity is corroborated by the segmentation of the apse of the side apses are vertically paired with the lower ones rather surface with the two-step niches which are absent in Novgorod. than correlated with the central ones. The small size of the upper However, there are also grounds to draw an analogy with window of the central apse prevents it from being the true centre. the Novgorod cathedral. The two structures are similar in size The absence of niches – striking when compared with the Kievan (the Polotsk cathedral is slightly smaller – its dome square-base monuments – deprives the façade of fine relief modelling and has a side of 5.85 m vs. 6.2m of Novgorod’s St. Sophia) and complicated rhythm, yet fully accords with the power and weight- both have double arcades. The coincidence in height is even iness of the forms of the Novgorod cathedral, in which minute more fascinating. The surviving window in the south wing of the chance correlations are inconsequential in view of the success west wall is located at the same level (4.9 m) as a similar window of the overall solution. of the Novgorod cathedral: such windows are usually so closely The location of window openings on the other façades was linked with the system of ceilings under the choir that under determined by the main structural correlations .They were made the circumstances this may serve as evidence of the same height in horizontal belts, one per part of the wall. On the west façade of the choirs in the two buildings. The height of the choir (over below the identical openings were cut under the line of the vault 10 m) in Novgorod is explicitly original and inordinate compared under the choir running all along the façade. On the side façades with the canonical St. Sophia of Kiev, and its replication in the they are slightly raised because the vaults behind them give onto smaller Polotsk cathedral might have been a conscious emulation the walls with their butt ends, forming the lunettes into which of Novgorod’s St. Sophia. the window arches were fitted. Along the perimeter of the choir The sanctuary structure likewise supports this inference. arcosolia were made in the walls to be used as benches or shelves, The windows in the central apse of the Polotsk cathedral were with small rectangular windows cut in their area along the pe- cut at the height of 4.6 m, which is close to the corresponding rimeter. The upper windows are at the level of the vaults and measurement of the Novgorod cathedral and differs from that arches over the choir. The windows of both tiers of the central of Kiev. The location of the windows apparently became the parts of the side façades were placed rather unusually – the logic reason for the appearance of a high (over 2 m) ornamental band of cutting two windows lower and wide apart is utterly incompre- that corresponded to the level of the windows and separated the hensible on the outside. Yet, looking from the inside, the guiding images of the sainted hierarchs from the Eucharist above them principle is obvious – in the level and outlines they fit in the (which is matched on the outside by a band of high – higher than arches of the double arcades of the arms of the cross. The two the windows – niches at 2.85 m vs. 2.38 m in Novgorod). windows in the central part of the wall became short of a must Now there are small windows (cut in the 18th century) above in subsequent Novgorod structures, as distinct from the three the niches but, to judge by the difference in the wall thickness, openings in the Kievan and Chernigov cathedrals. remnants of the earlier windows served as their base. If this is real- The original appearance of the cathedral was somewhat ly true, the central apse had two rows of windows, as in Novgorod, different, more complex and differentiated170 . The walls stood and the upper windows started at the same level of 10.5 m without overcoating to the middle of the 12th century. Rosy opus (in Novgorod this corresponded to the level of the choir). signinum and the evenly rubbed, almost polished surfaces impart- The niches in the apses are reminiscent of the techniques ed the coarse stone masonry with amazing picturesqueness and of the Kievan school of architecture, however, there are no nich- vibration that softened the inordinately massive forms. Chamfer- es on the west wall with the surviving window and on the east ing and notching of stones, decorative imitation of quadra and one, on either side of the apse, which likens the Polotsk cathedral concealed course masonry (apses and smaller dome drums), the to that of Novgorod. As evidenced by the surviving parts of the neat radial masonry of the arch openings and the resilient arch west façade masonry, its surfaces had an overcoating below with lines of the dome crowns (their outlines have survived under the quardas outlined over it – a technique similar to that used in Kiev later cornices) visually filled the structure shell with movement. and Novgorod. They did not reveal the structural backbone but, on the contrary, The cathedral plan was based on simple and clear-cut emphasised its pliant nature and ability to develop continuously. correlations. In the Kievan and Novgorod cathedrals the width The lively rhythm of the colourful shell of the building neu- of the aisles was about half that of the central naves (differing tralised the cold alienation of stone, evoking a wonderful feeling by about 20 cm) and in Novgorod those aisles even differed of it being handmade and humanised, as it were. There was in width, while in Polotsk they were all equal in width, which was a time when the cathedral, which now looks stern, cut a welcom- half that of the central nave. The thickness of the walls and piers ing, lighter and more cheerful figure. was half the width of the aisles, or if we take the wall and pier In general, the St. Sophia of Novgorod shares that con- thickness to be the smaller module, the aisles can be regarded stant quality of ancient and medieval art which, based on what as equal to two modules and the naves to four modules. There is is commissioned and what is predetermined by the experience no doubt about the multiplicity and regularity of that plan. There of masters emulating a concrete model, gives birth to a highly was no trabeated (post-and-lintel) system here, which led to the original work of art satisfying the tastes of the local public envi- multiple correlations in the width of aisles and central naves ronment and conforming to certain physical circumstances and of 11th-century Romanesque architecture, yet the correlation possibilities. Very much the same as the use of the Byzantine principle turned out to be the same. That system would provide tradition in Kiev resulted in the appearance of original art, the the groundwork for further modifications in subsequent Rus’ Kievan tradition brought about the development of a special monuments. aesthetic ideal, special expressiveness of architectural forms. Be- The Polotsk St. Sophia has an elongated sanctuary. The yond doubt, the St. Sophia of Novgorod is a ducal construction east piers under the dome were placed in the main space of the monument of the mid-11th century, the heyday of Kievan Rus’, cathedral, so the sanctuary screen was moved an aisle to the east yet its specificity proved so in harmony with the circumstances of the domical square-base. In the western part the choir was of Novgorod’s social life that not only its forms were emulated most likely made with one-pier chambers at the corners the way in the centuries that followed, but even the expressiveness of its it was done in Kiev and Novgorod. In the east the choir could architecture was with the passage of time recognised as matching have stretched all above the aisles, however, the solid walls in the the spirit of Novgorod’s public life. That was why, rather than eastern part separating the nave and two central aisles in plan merely by dint of the cathedral’s importance in the religious and evidence rather the traditional division – the choir stretched political life of the city, the later statement by Prince Mstislav eastward only above the outer aisles, leaving the three apses open Mstislavich the Bold, “Novgorod is where the St. Sophia is” , throughout their height. That is why a pair of high cruciform proved so indisputable. piers rose freely before them, uncrossed by the choir (a novel fea- ture). The Chernigov cathedral had a similar pair of cruciform piers that were, however, connected with the choir because of the *** nave-and-two-aisles general composition. One can only guess the purpose of the closed compartments in the eastern zones, which

168. In addition to the aforemen- could also have been used as annexes. tioned works by G.M. Shtender, his other publications are of paramount Polotsk, where the third St. Sophia cathedral was to be built in Rus’ The sanctuary part might have been singled out by being importance in the mid-11th century still rise to the height of about 11 m. In its lowered the way it was done in Chernigov. But then there might

169. Archaeological Report, 1976, basic compositional concept – a nave with double aisles on both have been no lowering, and the eastern part with the adjoining pp. 400–1; Archaeological Report, 1977, pp. 410–1; Archaeological sides, a spacious choir, two-storey arcades in the arms of the cross apses might have formed a single part of the volume stretching Report, 1978, and many domes – the cathedral was similar to its predecessors eastward. The List of Russian Cities Distant and Nearby mentions sev- 171 172 170. Tikhomirov, 1952, p. 176. of Kiev and Novgorod . en domes of the Polotsk St. Sophia . Five of them were, most 22 probably, placed canonically – one in the centre and four next and cultural phenomenon, the St. Sophia cathedrals of the 11th to it between the vaults of the arms of the cross. The remaining century. In addition to dedication, purpose, general composition two could hardly have been above the west aisle – its one-pier and building techniques, they all share a similar urban devel- chambers, most likely, had vaults of the same type and a dome opment situation – the Kievan St. Sophia was built in the new over the unit closest to the centre. One dome (as in Novgorod) “city” of Yaroslav, St. Sophia of Novgorod in the fortified and introduces certain asymmetry in the corner chamber ceilings (an extended Detinets, while the location of St. Sophia of Polotsk was ideal symmetrical solution – four compartments and four light connected with the transfer of the city centre from the site of the domes – was found in Kiev), but that lack of logic was easily over- old settlement. come by the group of symmetrical five domes. To include one The St. Sophia cathedrals appeared in the three major more dome in the one-pier chamber ceiling system would have Russian cities for obvious reasons. The huge and sumptuous been quite difficult and at variance with the centrally-planned nave-and-double-aisles-on-the-sides cathedrals became the cen- structure. Therefore, the additional two domes might have risen tres of spiritual life and embodied a new world outlook and the over the side sanctuary compartments in the east. triumphant might of the princely rule in Rus’. Yaroslav the Wise Anyhow, the domes rose above the nave and two middle built the Kievan St. Sophia and, together with his son, commis- aisles and were surrounded by the vaults of the outer aisles. sioned the Novgorod cathedral. That fact alone predetermined In the Chernigov cathedral the correlation between the smaller the affinity of the Kievan and Novgorod landmarks, while the domes and the vaults was solved simply by lowering the corner similarity of the prime cathedral of Polotsk, whose princes were parts relative to the vaults at the arms of the cross and making enemies of Kiev and plundered Novgorod throughout that centu- the sanctuary part even lower. The vaults adjoined only the ry, is somewhat unexpected. The reason, apparently, was not only drums of the west domes, but their elevation did not close the the desire “to be up to the mark”, but also the common cultural drum windows. Given the nave-and-double-aisles composition make-up of all Russian lands. The uniform church organisation of the Polotsk cathedral, the vaults of the outer aisles were sur- in Rus’ might have been a contributing factor, despite internecine rounded by the smaller domes on all the sides. wars among the princedoms. The examples of the Kievan and Novgorod St. Sophias The Hagia Sophia of Constantinople served as a distant attest to the existence of two versions of the dome-and-vault model for those cathedrals. Its scale, solemn choir, the beautiful combination. In one (Kievan) version the vaults of the arms domical composition and the rituals performed in it inspired of the cross are higher than the corner compartments, with all clients and architects alike. It was not merely an outside model: of their units having light domes that start at the same level as the the situation of early Byzantine life repeated itself elsewhere. The vaults (with respect to the stepped elevation of parts of the vaults choice of the church dedication was not accidental either then at the arms of the cross adjoining the drum of the central dome). or in the 11th century. What N.P. Kondakov said of the Hagia The dome outlines form the silhouette of the main volume. Sophia of Constantinople, “By dint of its conciliar importance In the other (Novgorod) all vaults are at the same level and their the Hagia Sophia… was dedicated to the supreme religious idea butt ends form the gable crowning the façades while the large rather than to some particular local shrine or saint” 176 , fully ap- and smaller domes on the outside rise at the same level, above plies to the Russian landmarks. the vaults. The universal idea linked with the concept of a harmoni- It is hard to say which of these versions was used in Polotsk. ously organised cosmos proved close to the grand-ducal culture The nave-and-double-aisles composition and the placement of Kievan Rus’, its power and solemnity. This is borne out by the of the domes above the nave and the middle aisles make a solu- architectural monuments, and this is what the 11th-century tion after the Novgorod St. Sophia more probable. The com- Russian chronicler had in mind when, in praising Hagia Sophia, position was clearly individual, as it was in every construction he cited Solomon: “I, wisdom, dwell in prudence, and I find of the 11th century, but it is important to point out the architects’ knowledge and discretion. …I have counsel and sound wisdom, attention to the cathedral termination. We have already said that I have insight, I have strength. By me kings reign, and rulers de- compositional quests in the centuries to come would follow pre- cree what is just… I love those who love me, and those who seek cisely this course. me diligently find me”177 . Another problem has to do with the stylistic nature of the Polotsk cathedral forms. Its dating is, most likely, confined to the period up to the year 1066. That year Prince Vseslav of Polotsk seized Novgorod and took a polykandelon from its chief cathe- dral, which, naturally, prompts the conclusion that he wanted that precious trophy to adorn the place of worship in his home town. In the Chernigov cathedral all the apses are semicircular, although the mouldings on the middle apse make it look faceted starting from the window level. In the St. Sophia cathedrals of Kiev and Novgorod the middle apse was faceted, and all structures built in Kiev in the second half of the 11th century had faceted apses. Therefore, the presence of three circular apses in the Polotsk cathedral seems strange 173 . The mouldings start- ing from the very basement, niches and straight planes of the masonry on both sides of the niches are all arguments in favour of the faceted apses. These considerations once again bring to mind thoughts about the shape of the piers of the double arcades inside the cathedral. There has survived the lower part of indeterminate shape from the west pier and the round imprint in the mortar from the north pier. The lower part of faceted piers is usually rounded, and the pier is often put on a square base. Even the columns of the Chernigov Cathedral of the Transfiguration have a square pediment. So the proposed reconstruction of all the piers in the arcades of the Polotsk St. Sophia as round 174 does not seem altogether indisputable. The problem of the staircase towers and the west gallery

171. Archaeological Report, 1979, (narthex) is yet to be settled. There was but one opening in the p. 358. centre of the west wall, therefore entrances to the staircase tow- 172. Archaeological Report, 1976, 175 p. 400. In a later publication V.A. ers had to be on the outside or else from the narthex . Bulkin speaks already of faceted It is desirable that all parts of masonry be further explored piers (Bulkin, 1988, p. carefully and purposefully (not only from the archaeological 173. According to publications, the towers might have been placed in point of view) in order to determine the way the cathedral the southern part of the west façade looked and originated with greater certainty. However, already [Archaeological now it is clear that it formed part of a special artistic, historical 174. Kondakov, 1886, p. 109. 23 Подписи к иллюстрациям c schematic longitudinal section; d longitudinal section of the south nave p. 111 p. 131

Ruins of the Tithe Church of Kiev (989-96), the first stone 88 church believed to have been built in Rus’ after the image of the Chernigov Cathedral of the Transfiguration, view from the Church of the Virgin of the Pharos at the Imperial Palace southeast of Constantinople 89 St. Sophia of Kiev, the biggest church of Old Rus’ built (1030 – Chernigov Cathedral of the Transfiguration, narthex the 1040s) by Prince Yaroslav the Wise, an example of Byzantine architectural tradition developed creatively on Russian ground p. 133

Chernigov Cathedral of the Transfiguration (the 1030s), a court 90 church built on commission for Prince Mstislav, elder brother and Chernigov Cathedral of the Transfiguration, general view of the rival of Yaroslav the Wise in the struggle for the Kievan throne interior

St. Sophia Cathedral of Novgorod (1045 – the 1050s). The ap- 91 pearance of this church, designed by Kievan architects, largely Chernigov Cathedral of the Transfiguration, interior, view of the determined the evolution and nature of the Novgorod architec- naos from the west arcade of the choir tural tradition p. 135 p. 115 92 75 Chernigov Cathedral of the Transfiguration, interior, view Hagia Sophia of Constantinople (532-7), interior through the north arcade p. 118 p. 136

76 93 Hagia Irene of Constantinople (mid-6th c.), interior Katholicon of the Hosios Loukas Monastery in Focide, 1040s, interior pp. 120-1 94 77 Church of the Mother of God (left) and Katholicon (right) of the Church of the Mother of God, Lips Monastery of Constanti- Hosios Loukas Monastery in Focide, axonometric projection nople (908) a section; b plan; c axonometric projection (after A. Migo) p. 138

78, 79 95 Church of the Mother of God, Lips Monastery of Constantino- Chernigov Cathedral of the Transfiguration, general view from ple, cornices the west pp. 122-3 p. 140-1

80 96 Church of the Mother of God (Panagia) at Hosios Loukas Mon- Mireleyon, Constantinople, 930, general view from the northwest astery in Focide, mid-10th c., interior 97 81 Mireleyon, Constantinople, axonometric projection Tithe Church of Kiev, 989-96: a plan after M.K. Karger; 98 b reconstruction after N.V. Kholostenko Mireleyon, Constantinople, interior p. 125 p. 144-5

82 99 Church of Panagia Chalkeon of Thessaloniki, 1028, general view Chernigov Cathedral of the Transfiguration, west gable of the south façade pp. 126-8 100 83 Chernigov Cathedral of the Transfiguration, view from the Hagia Sophia of Thessaloniki, mid-7th c., interior northwest

84 Hagia Sophia of Thessaloniki, axonometric projection and plan p. 148

85 101 Dereağzi church, Asia Minor, ca. 900, longitudinal section Cathedral of St. Sophia of Kiev, 1030 – 1040s, longitudinal sec- tion of the outer north aisle and plan, reconstruction 86 Dereağzi church, Asia Minor, plan p. 150 p. 129 102 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Kiev, general view of the interior 87 Chernigov Cathedral of the Transfiguration, 1030s a plan; p. 152-3 b choir plan; 24 103 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Polotsk, central apse, fragment of the Cathedral of St. Sophia of Kiev, transept old synthronon

104 p. 177 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Kiev, smaller inner galleries 118 p. 155 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Polotsk, view of the eastern part

105 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Kiev, interior, smaller south aisle in perspective p. 157

106 Pantocrator Monastery, Constantinople, early 12th c., northern church, interior

107 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Kiev, interior, choir, general view from the northwest p. 158

108 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Kiev, general view from the east p. 161

109 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Novgorod, 1045 – 1050s a longitudinal section of the central nave b section of the smaller east aisle c section of the south gallery p. 162

110 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Novgorod, interior, view of the vault from the northwest corner under the choir p. 164

111 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Novgorod, interior, northern part of the choir

112 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Novgorod, interior, view of the north- west p. 166

113 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Novgorod, general view p. 168

114 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Novgorod, general view from the south p. 175

115 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Polotsk, 1050s, view from the east

116 Cathedral of St. Sophia of Polotsk, plan

p. 176

117 25